The Scientist
by Beckon
Summary: Take me away in a hundred phrases. Another 100 Themes Challenge.
1. Introduction

**A/N: Decided to do something fun and challenging, so I took the 100 theme challenge. But decided to try my wits at it and use it for only ONE couple. Yes, very dangerous and there's a good chance I may come out of it hating the couple instead but you know, totally worth the risk. Not going to lie, I've gotten some done ahead of time just to test my ability to stick with it and not all of them are masterpieces. Not all of them are really even chapters, some of them range from just 300 words while others are triple that. But you know what, I took the theme and went with the first impulsive idea and some of them weren't meant to be that long. That's just how they ended up. I don't even expect really anyone to read this but it's a nice little trophy for myself. That is, if I complete all 100 themes. **

**I. **

**Introduction**

The flood of consciousness that struck her settled deep in her chest and brought a sharp inhale from her lips as the coma-like state her body had been hibernating in slipped away. Her memory was fuzzy and filled with black spots as the environment around was foreign and exotic to her eyes. It was like no facility she had ever been a witness too; the stark whiteness of the walls almost seemed to burn her vision as the dim lights from above only heightened the temporary pain. There was a crippling numbness throughout her body that hindered her movements and yet, she fought through them as best she could.

Weak hands pushed her away from the medical cot that had harbored her body for an unknown period of time; trembling legs were barely able to support her at first glance but slowly seemed to strength with each slow, unsteady step. Fingers were somewhat quick to gather the white sheet that had been laid over her; carefully holding it around her bare form as the absence of her uniform was suddenly noticed. Her strength was waning back and forth but she felt her body slowly beginning to overcome these obstacles. She had never felt this… weak before and strangely enough, it confused and almost frightened her at the same time. Why did she feel like this? And what exactly happened? Where was she?

The questions weren't easy to answer when she had no hints to go off of.

Perhaps a further investigation of this strange facility would give her something to work with; or at least hopefully give her a clue to this place. The atmosphere to it felt familiar or at least it felt like something she could relate to but she was almost certain she had never seen this place before in her life- and her perfect memory would agree with her; or at least, it used to be perfect.

Fingers touched at the open doorframe as she slowly peeked out into the open room that expanded in all directions around her. The walls changed from white to a mix of dark blue and green before they faded back to white; a very odd design but not the strangest she had seen as of yet. There was a stark cleanliness to the open room, something about it just didn't feel right but she had no means of judging it yet. Slowly, she entered the room for closer observations but made sure to keep a keen eye for any movement. But with such wide, empty space, it would feel as though the smallest of movements would be the instant attraction of attention.

Much like she was at the moment, she supposed.

The temperature was cool but not entirely freezing; even with her bare skin, she didn't shiver the least bit underneath the soft cold winds that circulated back and forth throughout the room. Its atmosphere radiated with the same familiarity she had felt back in the Division Twelve labs but this… this was far different than those. There was a different air to it, she just couldn't seem to put it into words. It was an indescribable location that was far out of her reach of identification.

What had once been a move to gather answers only seemed to collect more questions instead.

Fingers tightened lightly in the soft sheets as she sub-consciously pulled them closer around her; the openness of the area, mixed with the pure silence and absolute solitude left her feeling… vulnerable almost. The same questions revolved constantly through her mind as she found herself wondering deeper and deeper into the facility and yet the fear of becoming lost was not a thought for her.

Why was she here?

And where exactly was 'here?'

What could she remember?

Nothing.

It felt like she couldn't remember a thing about any future events. The last thing in her memory was… preparing to leave Soul Society. Captain Mayuri had been summoned to fight in Hueco Mundo and he had ordered her to follow along with him. She remembered being curious about the trip and wondering what would hold for them on the other side, in the neighboring dimension… Was this it? Was this what had been waiting for them? Every answer only brought more questions.

She paused in mid-step as she listened to the faint echo of footsteps in the distance. They were too far to recognize the direction but- no, wait… they were coming in towards her. It was a steady gait, as though the owner was in no rush to get to his or her destination. There wasn't a single energy reading she could net into; she would just have to rely on visible sight to identify the carrier. So she waited; waiting and listening as those footsteps drew closer and closer.

Closer and closer.

And like that, she watched as a figure slowly stepped from the shadows of a branching corridor. His path continued on for a few more steps before it stopped; his eyes finally meeting her own as his body slowly came to a stop at the sudden, unsuspected contact.

It was a collection of silence as they both appeared struck speechless by the other's appearance; she felt as though hers was more expected though.

"What's your name?" he questioned.

His voice was oddly smooth and calm as those amber eyes of his never once left her own.

Some part of her felt as though he already knew the answer to that question.

"Kurotsuchi."

Fingertips carefully came up and readjusted his glasses as he seemed to study her with that name echoing in the back of his mind; the name somewhere lost on the tip of his tongue.

"Who are you?"

"Granz."

**A/N: Oddly enough, this was one of my least favorites to do. **


	2. Love

**II.**

**Love**

"Why is this so difficult?"

The tone in his voice made it sound like he really wanted to know; almost desperately, he wanted to find some kind of answer to it. She watched the way he had at first tried to seem busy with his work but had ultimately given up on it moments later; it was in his body language and the nervous habit in his hands as he tried to keep them busy enough to stop the mild shaking.

"… Because I don't understand. I don't understand what… what you want or even how to get it for you."

She slowly pulled her legs up and tucked them beneath her as she fell into the curved shape of the chair beneath her; her fingers lightly knitted together as she continued to observe him. It sounded like he was giving up but… the motion was logical. What did either of them know about this?

"You're so wrapped up in your own little world…" she whispered. "It must be hard to break free."

"It's not that." he objected, almost sharply, as he turned towards her for a moment; there was this almost exhausted look in his eyes. "… There are certain boundary lines that don't need to be crossed; I used to push those lines enough to bend and stretch them but now… now I don't know what's on the other side waiting. I can't tell if… if the struggle to break that single obstacle is really worth it.

This wasn't an easy conversation for either of them.

But she was trying.

She was trying to push the words; she was trying to keep this- them together.

"Unconditional."

He looked up at her odd word choice and watched as fingertips carefully now played with the end of her braid; fingers tracing the different crossed patterns till they lightly twisted at the red bead that held it all together.

"What?"

The feel of his eyes on her now made her cast her sight aside for a moment as she tried to focus on something else in the room.

"That's what I'll give you."

He didn't reply and instead turned away for a moment as though caught up in the mess of his own thoughts; there were details that weren't worked out and as far as either of them were aware of… nothing seemed to be working out nor did any of it make sense. But, they were trying. They were both far too hard-headed and determined to give up. That would be weak and an insult to their intelligence. Sure, the ride through this 'relationship' had been fairly reckless and carefree, but as it began to process, it felt as though it went through a metamorphosis overnight. Suddenly… they needed a reason; they needed something more than just the human-like need of a want.

"I'll be waiting, right in this spot when you return." she started; slowly drawing his attention back to her. Her eyes shifted back to his own and held them for a little while longer. "I have no desire to be anywhere else until you feel comfortable with your answer and can present it to me."

Maybe those words held something in them, he looked almost halfway relieved at just listening to them before he carefully moved to brush aside a stray lock of pink hair.

"Why? Why this? Why us?"

"Because… I've been through a lot in my short lifetime. I've had things done to me, force on me and I carried on each mark and scar without even the hint of pain or hatred. But you left something greater than that. You left me with something I can't forget and something I can't give up."

Those usually sharp eyes of his caught on to hers and prolonged their connection. "… What is it?"

"It's difficult for either of us to understand because, it doesn't seem like there's much of a science behind it; it's outside of our range of knowledge and… we don't know how to react to it. But, I'm certain that you gave me the mark and scar that… can really only be achieved through love." she started; partly struggling with the words and partly believing in them when she spoke. "When you feel the need to come back and receive your own… I'll be here. Unconditionally."


	3. Light

**III.**

**Light**

"It may look beautiful from here but the reality of it is very ugly."

She listened to him speak as she carefully made her way across the scorching sand of the desert around them. It was strangely quiet outside, which seemed typical for this kind of environment. With the blazing sun above them, there was really no want or need to spend long hours out here- even the small desert creatures seemed to believe so. But the sun was slowly beginning to lower its reign across the sky as it progressively began to tilt downward to land at the other horizon line it had been working all day to get to. The desert wind was even hot and felt as though it pushed searing hot pieces of sand into her flesh but she barely noted the sensation and paused for a moment in her trails; glancing back to see the faint footprints she had left behind were already beginning to disappear.

"Why is that?"

He was normally uncomfortable with the idea of taking her out into the open like this but she had insisted on seeing the world that he lived in. It seemed like he had no other choice when every excuse began to run out and she became just a bit persistent with the request. She was curious; he supposed he had no right to kill it, after all they both seemed to share that trait evenly.

"Because it's artificial."

"Artificial?" she repeated; slowly and carefully allowing the word to leave her.

"Los Noches is technically encased in a massive dome-like structure that was enforced to keep many of us from reaching our max power levels- doing so would detonate this entire place. It also allows for the sky to mimic that of both human and Shinigami world; mimicking a day to night process. Just beyond that horizon though, where the dome ends, is where Hueco Mundo rests. There is no sun. Only infinite darkness and the bitter cold. That's why only the strongest survive it; from every step through the progression of a hollow, to that form of an Arrancar… you're always being hunted. Not just by the cold, or the darkness but by each other."

"And you survive that?"

A light chuckle left him as he carefully pushed up on the white frames of his glasses. "I can't say that I'm surprised by that question."

"Then what's the answer?"

"None of your business."

She watched as he moved to brush aside a few loose strands of hair from his face as a sharp breeze moved them from their place. "That hardly seems fair."

"Well neither was that world out there. Why should I change my views because of a little light that was made to change this place? It's really hardly worth mentioning." he simply shrugged before he looked towards the bleeding horizon. "I'll be dark soon, we should head back inside."

"Scared of the dark now?" she questioned as she slowly made her way back towards him; closing the space between them step by step till she stood under his taller form.

"No, just the light."


	4. Dark

**IV.**

**Dark**

_"Let me show you why I'm not afraid of the dark."_

The differences between their uniforms used to be a stark contrast; ultimately running parallel to one another on opposite ends of the spectrum. And yet, without the uniforms and without the status that the coloring of the fabric gave them… there wasn't a difference. The flushed tones and hues of her skin seemed to match perfectly with his own; the minimum space between them that served as the only separation of their bodies did little to convince that they were two separate entities. In this moment, lost in the darkness, they were one.

They moved as one; they breathed as one; in increasing moments of physical connection, they were one.

There wasn't even the smallest second where they weren't touching; there wasn't the smallest release of air that could pass between them; it was the inability to let go and lose the moment- to lose that sense of darkness that they had blindly thrown themselves into.

It was fingers lost in the mess and tangles of hair.

Lips that had forgotten how to be independent to themselves.

A single heart that pounded and echoed its desire into an empty chest.

Legs intertwined and hips bruised so deeply, it seemed as though they had fused into one another.

Spines, which could so easily withstand heavy damage, quivered under the smallest of touches.

The light showed these reactions to be signs of a weakness; the dark showed how the weakness could be transformed into a disclosed desire.


	5. Seeking Solace

**V.**

**Seeking Solace**

Please breathe in…

Please breathe out.

She felt his heated breath escape across her chest as the air was released in shattered waves before slowly it was brought back in. Her fingers lightly traced through his hair as she knitted aside every small strand and brushed them away from his face; his hands seemed desperate to hold onto her as fingertips buried themselves into the curve of her back. There were times like this where she almost… feared for him; it was during times like this that… she realized why she needed to stay. Even if he told her to stay away from him in this state, she couldn't. He needed her and she couldn't just step away from that.

She couldn't act like none of this happened.

Even if he didn't remember the outbreak… that didn't mean that it didn't happen.

Maybe the open wounds on his arms would heal and leave little to no reminders of this event; maybe the lost presence of his sanity would become nothing more than a mere phase for now and soon to be forgotten later. But in this hour, it was happening and she wasn't going to turn a blind eye to it.

"_Something has always drawn me to you… but for the life of me, I can't put my finger on it."_

"_I wonder what it could be."_

"_It's probably just something simplistic and unrealistic… or maybe it's completely opposite."_

Maybe it was something like that… maybe she did represent something unsophisticated and unrealistic; maybe her existence had been nothing more than life put into a one-dimensional creation. Or maybe it was just like that too, maybe it was just the complete opposite. She could've represented something that was the only thing keeping him sane right now; the only thing that kept him from completely breaking down.

"_Sometimes… I think just the smallest touch from you is enough." _

"_Enough for what?"_

"_Anything."_


	6. Break Away

**VI.**

**Break Away**

"I made a mistake…"

The sound of a metal blade cutting through the softest part of the abdomen left her with nothing more than sudden regret and the piercing touch of coldness spreading through her body.

"I never wanted to go back."

Where she found the strength to push aside her fellow Shinigamis, she wasn't sure; how she managed to knock aside a Captain, she didn't want to know; the sight of his blood as it rushed free from his newly carved injury was all she needed to see to get that kind of strength. The empty space between them closed and filled itself as she caught him easily against her body; feeling the way his entire figure trembled at the sudden contact before his hands lightly grasped around her.

In some way, she wanted to see it as a sign of forgiveness; a sign that said… even when she told him she didn't want to be here anymore, it wasn't true and that he knew that. But, she couldn't allow for it to be over that easily- she wouldn't let him forgive her like that. Slowly, she let their two bodies fall in unison to the floor. The usually cold tiles were warm and wet with his spilled blood; the crimson liquid smeared itself across her knees and pooled around her legs. Hands pulled him in towards her as she felt him lightly tuck his head against one shoulder and into the curve of her neck.

"I thought this… was what you wanted?" he questioned lightly; his hands slowly sliding down to rest against his thighs instead.

Fingers knitted themselves carefully over the back of his neck as she listened to the slow, gentle way he took in and released his breath. "I thought it was too but then I realized… it doesn't make me happy like you do."

A small chuckle seemed to leave him as he turned just enough to kiss at the small curve of her neck. "So then you'll reconsider my offer…"

"I'll stay here with you…" she whispered as she moved her fingers to tangle in his pink hair. "And we'll find out what it's like to be like this… together."


	7. Heaven

**VII.**

**Heaven**

She never believed in a greater force that was unseen and above all.

But in those rare mornings when he woke up before she did… she always got the impression that this was what heaven was supposed to be like.

He would always run his fingertips through her thick locks and brush them away from her face; taking his time in tucking them lightly behind one ear. Fingers gingerly traced the soft curve of her jawline just before he would carefully hook them beneath her chin. It was the same routine up to this point, where he would either simply brush his lips against her own or fully take them. But after that… sometimes he would change it. At the moment, her favorite was when he would touch at her lips and slowly make his way to the corner of them; somehow, he always managed to make his way to the back of her neck.

From there it was always a mix of bed sheets and hands as he moved his body over her own and traced shapes into her spine. She was always awake at that point but she never wanted to interrupt him; she didn't want his hands or his touches to melt away just yet.

Hands lightly grabbed a hold of her sides as he turned her over onto her back; the bed covers had been disregarded before and left a majority of her body undressed and nude. He pressed lips against the curve of her neck and slowly made his way down to the dip of her collarbones; she arched lightly as he skimmed the flat surface of her sternum and just barely touched at the opening of the valley between her breasts. His hands slipped beneath her and carefully seemed to cradle her lower back as he lifted her just barely off the bed; pulling her body into slightly greater arch while he touched at the middle point of the valley. By the time he reached the lower curve of her ribcage, he was adding small hints of his tongue and using them to trace the invisible line that ran down the middle of her body. A soft groan touched at her lips as he moved on to the scope of her trimmed abdomen; fingers indulged themselves in the soft feel of his hair running between them before she slowly drug them down to muscular focus of his shoulders- taking the long trail down his arms till they could lightly wrap themselves across his wrists. He seemed to grab a hold of her wants and retraced his touches back up her body till his lips rested against her own.

She would tease him as she'd lure him in for a short embrace only to lightly pull away at the last minute; he always knew that'd she do it but let himself fall for it regardless. The long-term embrace that followed afterwards as always worth it. It was a mix of fingers tangled in messy locks and lips pressed almost too tight against one another; the arousal of his skin pushed against her own and the mismatch shapes of their bodies as they lost themselves in the popular sense of lust and physical euphoria; the sounds of the mattress as it quietly squeaked beneath their moving combined bodyweight as they twisted and tousled their bodies together.

She was never going to be a believer; but he made her believe that she didn't have to be one to reach that extra level of enlightenment.


	8. Innocence

**VIII.**

**Innocence**

A soft hum left her as she carefully pulled herself from the light sleep she had been under. She wasn't even aware she had fallen asleep till now… what was she doing before? Her consciousness was still blurred from the longer-than-expected sleep and seemed determined to keep her from remembering why she was already in bed. Stifling a soft yawn, she looked over to the body rested next to her; almost smiling lightly at the close sense of serenity that sleep had placed over him.

The small infant that was cuddled into his chest seemed to make the mood even more perfect; one hand lightly curled against the child's back either to keep her still or to assure her that he was still there.

She chuckled lightly as she took note of the child's thicker strands of hair that were finally coming in; she was going to look just like her father with the matching pink hair. He had insisted that it was going to be a recessive gene and would have little to no percentage of showing and yet… there was no way of denying it. She had her eyes though, which she was happy for- she was still far too young to figure out who she would resemble more physically; or which type of energy she would inherit more of. There were a lot of questions surrounding her but… at the moment, they were just happy. For once, they were happy to not know everything; they were happy to just… live in that moment and see where it went for them.

It didn't matter what she would grow up to be in the future.

She was their daughter.

Quietly pushing herself up to rest on her arms, she watched as he shifted slightly in his sleep before he stilled once more; not once stirring the sleeping child. She reached over and gently pushed the strands of hair from his face before letting the back of her fingers gingerly touch at the infant's cheek; listening to the soft coos that followed afterwards.

They were putting the baby down for a nap but she seemed to refuse to sleep without them. They thought if they just stayed long enough for her to fall asleep, then they could sneak out later and enjoy a few quiet moments to themselves. Somehow they all ended up sharing that nap but… she wasn't going to complain. It was moments like this that reminded her that even the heartless seemed to have hearts.


	9. Drive

**IX.**

**(sex) Drive**

He groaned lightly as he felt the warm brush of air against his neck before a soft set of lips slowly touched over the flushed skin. A warm hand moved across his chest as the flesh of her bare breasts pressed down against him. "You have got to be kidding me…" he muttered as one hand came up to carefully massage his eyelids. "You're voracious, you know that?"

She smiled at his tired remark as she kissed into the deep curve of his neck; feeling the way his body was at ease beneath her. It was still the early morning and they had gone to bed just hours before but had only slept for less than half that time. "Hmm, you act surprised by this."

His fingers tangled themselves in her black hair as he felt her hands press into the mattress space on both sides of his ribcage. There were those odd occasions where she insisted on initiating the physical obsession that seemed to hold them together; he preferred not to argue against them and instead… he rather enjoyed the look of fixation in her eyes. However, sometimes it seemed as though her artificial body was able to withstand more than his own. "Did I not satisfy you enough the first time? Or the second time?"

A light chuckle left her at the apparent tiredness in his voice as she leaned in and pressed her lips against the underside of his chin. "Do you think I would keep coming back if you didn't?"

"How is someone as mild-mannered and calm as you are act like such an addict?"

"I blame you for getting me addicted."


	10. Breathe Again

**X.**

**Breathe Again**

The ground was cold against his skin and even colder as it felt as though it seeped into his body and filled the hollow crevices of his bones. And yet, his blood was hot as it flushed through every system; pumping itself throughout his body and thundering in his ears with every deep breath. How the two different temperatures didn't mix and cause some kind of spontaneous combustion, he felt as though he was far too broken to think it through. His mind rushed back and forth between trying to remember what happened and trying to remember to keep every system functioning for now; he was only succeeding in one aspect though.

There was a Captain; a Bankai…; a woman… and two others.

The drug in his body prevented his memories from appearing correctly and instead seemed to blur them all together till only some strange sense of darkness remained. Who was that woman though? She was the only one he could correctly remember… more than likely because she was the only female present and he had taken a notice to her before. There was a different merge of memories and images of her that seemed to stick with him… what happened? Oh no wait… that Gabriel Affect. That perfectly reminded him how he got infected with this drug of some sort; it also explained how that Captain managed to land a solid impalement through his chest.

Strangely enough, he could feel some of his internal organs beginning to fail and shut down and yet… he didn't entirely feel as though he was dying. Not that he really knew how it was supposed to feel like; he had been a witness to it plenty of times before.

Yet, somewhere between the ringing in the back of his head and the near sense of deafness in one ear, he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. It didn't really seem all that surprising- he never really attacked anyone with the purpose to kill, only to maim and watch them suffer for awhile; actually, yeah he did attack to kill just not in the timing that they wanted. But hell, there wasn't much of him alive at this point, and for a moment, he was almost looking forward to dying. It would ease him of this ridiculous drug after all.

"I want to apologize."

That voice… it sounded like it should've been familiar and yet he couldn't entirely pinpoint it. The footsteps died away to the sound of someone kneeling down somewhere close to his side. For a brief second, he caught a solid thought through his mind and a short, almost sarcastic chuckle left him. "Even after what I did to you… you still find the need to apologize… You must be one of the stupidest pawns I've ever seen."

The words didn't seem like they phased her the least bit; instead he felt the cold tips of her fingers touch him before they gently brushed through his disheveled pink locks. "I don't know why you saw any sense of importance in me, even if for just one use."

"It was adequate…"

"For what purpose?"

"To breathe again."


	11. Memory

**XI.**

**Memory**

Fingertips traced the soft curves in her arms as he pulled her back in towards him; seemingly unwilling to let her go for the moment. She gave no resistance to the motion although she had been the first to pull away only to be pulled back in. Hands pressed together in the center of her ribcage as he buried himself into the dip between her shoulder-blades; taking in the faint scent of her flesh and the hint of chemicals that laced her skin. The soft material of her kimono bundled easily between his fingers as the dress had already fallen off a majority of her body to reveal her slender shoulders and the gentle curve of the back of her neck.

"How much longer are you going to keep this up?"

Her question came to no surprise from him. She used to see no reason in the need to be touched and at one point, seemed to hold a dislike for it; her body would tense up every now and then but she wouldn't fight back against brief physical contact- like in a situation as this.

He chuckled lightly into her skin as he tightened his hold on her for just a moment before he let go. "There, happy now?"

She carefully pushed herself back into the wanting position from before; carefully draping her legs over the side of the couch. Her body gave into a short stretch as her hands entangled above her before they slowly dropped back to the edge of the cushion. The falling material of her kimono caught itself around the thicker frame of her obi sash and kept it from completely falling downward; revealing a majority of her upper back at this point. She half turned back towards him, showing off where the fabric had fallen to show off a better portion of her breasts as well, before her fingers knitted together the center piece; pulling the material back together to keep some form of modesty. "That depends, are you happy?"

"Why do you always ask me that?"

"Why shouldn't I?"

He ran one hand down his face as he pushed himself up from the rather comfortable position in the couch he had made for himself. "Basing your decisions on my decisions doesn't get you anywhere. I thought you got over that."

"Some habits die hard." she lightly shrugged before she leaned in towards him; briefly touching her forehead against his own. "Now then, why don't we both remove ourselves from behind our eyes and move on from here."


	12. Insanity

**XII.**

**Insanity**

"Sometimes you make me wonder who the crazy one in this relationship is."

Those amber eyes slowly looked up from the notes he held in hand and pulled his attention away from his work to focus back on her; taking note of her form as she stood in the only doorway that lead in and out of the rather large, expressive room that served as an office-like suite. "Have I ever told you I love the interesting ways you start conversations?"

"Your insanity is how our paths managed to cross." she remarked as she brought her arms up to cross beneath her breasts. "Perhaps mine is how our paths continued and merged together."

"You're just now realizing how crazy it is that you're still here? That… you haven't made any attempt to get up and leave?" he replied as he tossed his notes aside and pushed them into one of the many strangely marked folders around him. "Well I can't say that that kind of thinking hasn't passed me. Sometimes I wonder myself."

She took note of how he had the look that if he could, he would take off his glasses and toss them aside without worrying where they landed. Leaning in against the doorframe, she watched as he looked around as though he seemingly lost track of what he was doing- like he preferred if the shortly-lived previous conversation didn't resurrect itself. "You don't at all find it odd?"

"I find it… questionable." he corrected. "As for anything past that… I didn't really care for; I've had plenty of other things to worry about rather than… why you prefer to stay here."

"Is it because you didn't want to know the answer?"

"No."

His rather sharp answer was uncharacteristic when compared to his other, rather detailed answers; it seemed like an unusual case when he answered with just one word. "Then why?"

"Because…" he started; pausing momentarily as his fingers moved to readjust his glasses. "Sometimes when that sense of sanity breaks… it's nice to know you're not the only crazy one."


	13. Misfortune

**XIII.**

**Misfortune**

"Sometimes I wonder if it's all really worth it."

Fingertips lightly dabbed at the open split that ran across the curve of his cheek; watching as the white rag between her fingers began to dye itself red with the streams of blood that ran free. She didn't ask for this and she wasn't there to help but… still part of her felt responsible for the abuse that stained his skin purple and black; for each separation of flesh that rolled with fresh droplets of blood; for the fractured and broken bones that lined down the protective curve of his chest. Who was she trying to kid? All of this… it had been because of her; he was just trying to defend her and defend this strange obsession between them.

It didn't matter if he won or lost the fight; it was misfortune that kept her from defending them just as much.

"Sometimes it feels like you're fighting for this more than I am."

A light chuckle escaped him as he slowly opened his eyes as best he could; his right eye was bloodshot from broken veins and ended up with a split eyelid that could barely move. "You can actually stand to be around me for more than a few minutes… I think that's a fight in itself."

"It's your addicting personality." she remarked as she carefully moved to clean away the blood that emerged from his busted lower lip; part of her felt a little annoyed with the injury that might possibly hinder their embraces for a short while. "We both lack proper social skills that help us connect with others; we both prefer isolation and solitude over social interactions; we both… tend to evaluate situations that do not directly need second guessing on."

"Sounds pretty accurate." he replied as he carefully touched at his open cheek; fingertips feeling where the flesh peeled itself apart to expose thin muscle walls and nerve endings. "But as much as we like to think we're compatible… others seem to share different options. Technically, we're as polar opposite as black and white is- ironically enough actually; hence why our two kinds aren't liable for this kind of relationship. Hence why… the others are definitely not happy about this."

"Last I checked, we weren't out affecting anyone directly."

"No, but the thought alone is enough to be direct." he commented before he moved to push aside a stray lock of hair. "This isn't the worst condition they've put me through though, so I suppose I have that to be thankful for."

"And I as well." she reminded. "Although the broken ribs may be slightly hindering…"

"I'll fix them later." he started as one hand touched at the misplaced shapes of his ribcage. "When I actually get around to getting back up."

She touched at the small section of shredded flesh along the curve of his jawline on one side. "That might be quite awhile…" she took the bloodied rag in hand now and discarded it with the others as she reached for a clean one now; taking note of his lack of a response only to realize he had either passed out or fallen asleep on her. Shaking her head, she traced fingertips through his hair and softly kissed at a partially bruised temple.

One day.


	14. Smile

**XIV. **

**Smile**

"_I've never seen you smile…"_

"_I've never had a reason to. No one's ever given me a reason."_

"_What will it take? What do I have to do… just to see it once?"_

It was a rarity to see and one was lucky if they were quick enough to catch her before she caught herself in the act. Maybe it was a lost characteristic that floated about in her subconscious and every now and then, when she wasn't perfectly focused on something… it found its way to the surface.

He was never one for emotions or even the overly cuddly and disgusting details on physical attributes that attracted mates towards one another but… the rarity of it made it almost a novelty. It was a game. Sometimes it would go days, weeks, maybe months before it would show up and he had to be on sight to catch it or else, without witnesses, it never happened. He didn't always catch it but when he did, it was like spotting a species that was thought to had been extinct for centuries. It was a disgustingly cute attribute he wasn't always willing to admit; it added highlights to her already perfected physical qualities.

He preferred to reveal that it was all in the scarcity of it and nothing else.

It brought her one step closer to being more life-like; more human-like.

"_Have you considered smiling more often?"_

"_I doubt I could quite honestly be happy for that long."_

She knew how he turned it into a game to try and spot her misstep in the physical appearance of emotions; despite how well he hid it, she had managed to catch on to him fairly early on in the 'game.' That's why she made it that much harder for him. If he wanted a game, she would give him a game… after all, he wasn't going to be the only one playing it.

The only reason he caught her was because she let him.

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! And after so many stories with this couple, I think I might be a bit closer to mastering their combined characters; and believe me, it has not been an easy road.**


	15. Silence

**XV.**

**Silence**

It was the utter silence that she liked most.

At any given hour of the day, the entire facility seemed like it would fall underneath the heavy blanket of absolute stillness; the sudden change would often send a shiver down her spine as it felt as though death itself had passed on through. Despite the large accumulation and variety of glass beakers and other oddly shaped glass materials, the smallest tremor wouldn't cause for the vibrating echo to disturb the unforgiving quiet. It was this that she felt as though she could enjoy; the silence that would've been torture to most people sounded like paradise to her.

He seemed to share this as mutual interest between them.

She would watch him for hours run through different experiments and never once would a single noise seem to come from him; instead, it almost seemed as though he had perfected the ability to move without the speed of sound following close behind it. It was absurd and impossible to think on but… it was an interesting thought to put to him. Although, sometimes she wondered if he had merely adjusted the environment to better suit her or if it had been like this before her arrival.

It wasn't always quiet though, and those moments when the silence broke, she remembered.

"You know, I find it surprising that when the time happens, you're the loudest one here." she whispered; body perfectly arched over his own.

He merely chuckled at her remark as fingers tangled in her hair and pulled her down closer to him; the few inches that separated their lips was far too great of a distance. "I keep it quiet enough for you, I think I've deserved some time for myself."


	16. Questioning

**XVI.**

**Questioning**

"Did you love her?"

He sighed lightly at the question and ran his fingers through his hair. "Back then, it was just about cold nights and warm hands. We figured since we didn't have hearts, it was a no strings attached kind of deal and we were happy with that decision. No stress. No overbearing tendencies. It was just us then. We wanted nothing more than just physical heat to keep us afloat. That was all."

"You keep bringing up the fact that you don't have a heart…" she started.

"It's not meant to sound like an excuse." he interrupted quietly; already guessing where the conversation would have gone from there. "What about you? Have you ever loved someone else?"

Her fingers fiddled with her black locks as she traced them down the long braid. "I've dated a few people but… I can't be certain that I actually loved them. I don't think I could grasp the concept then but… someone came close to showing it to me once before."

"Would you have loved him?"

"Maybe. But there was so much bad air between us and the constriction of outside forces lead us to choose to not follow through with it. I don't know if we made the right choice or not but I think it showed how weak we were in that kind of decision." she answered.

"How do we expect to make this work then?"

"Sleep on it tonight. If you wake up tomorrow and find that you still love me, then we can give it a chance."


	17. Blood

**XVII.**

**Blood**

There was one room in the entire facility that she had never been in. Not for the sheer fact that there might've been a sign warning to stay out or that he had specified for her to avoid it… no, it was almost merely out of respect that she didn't follow him in there.

It was an interesting room though.

Every now and again, he would walk in and stay inside for an uncounted amount of time; there was never a sound that was echoed from the inside but that could've been because of wall thickness or even soundproof padding. However… whenever he emerged, there was always an extra layer of clothing on him. An extra layer of blood that seemed to dress him better than his uniform did. She was never sure if it was his blood or someone else's…

She never asked for the sheer fact that she didn't want to know.

He would disappear into the shower and stay in there for hours it seemed; he always emerged looking the same way he always did and almost seemed to act as though the time before never happened. She tried not to think about it… the thought of it frightened her the more she settled on it. Whatever happened was for him to know and she was all the more willing to accept that.

And yet… the question of who owned the blood continued to haunt her. No matter how many times she pushed it aside, it still managed to find a way back beneath her skin.

"What's behind that door?"

"A sanctuary."


	18. Rainbow

**XVIII.**

**Rainbow**

The counters of his working tables were always decorated.

Different size beakers were linked to other glasses and tubes that seemed to bend in and out of shape till they conformed into the glass ornament they were designated for. Some had labels, others didn't; some seemed polished, others were scuffed and sometimes smudged. The cracked ones were tossed aside safely and broken pieces were disposed of quickly.

They were different colors though and… when whatever chemical was being pushed through their maze of glass encasement, they shined; their reflections seemed to resemble a flat rainbow that, although out of order, seemed even more out of place. But regardless… it was a small break of sight when compared to the black-and-white theme that engulfed this world.

Still, he showed no hesitation in pushing those glasses out of the way; allowing for the rainbow to shatter itself across the floor in jagged, broken pieces that were left to be forgotten in the moment. It was her body covering the faint memories of those colors as his body covered her own. Everything about those colorful reflections were lost as their black-and-white world melted away to reveal the friction and heat that pulsed through blue and red veins; silk flesh gave into one another and committed sins that remained undocumented by any book or novel in the world.


	19. Gray

**XIX.**

**Gray**

She came from a society who dressed in black to symbolize their duties.

He came from a world who dressed in white to represent the nihilism and chaos that created them.

Together, it seemed only reasonable that the one area they could both stand in, was an area that mixed black and white together; an area dressed in only gray to indicate the overlapping points.

In retrospect, they were on opposite ends of the spectrum and yet… they were more alike than comfortably imagined. He brought her here, to his world, where she added darkness to the stark illumination; he added light to her pitch dark world. Things mixed; things happened; things couldn't be reversed… not that there was any want for them to be different.

She had once been curious what it would had been like if they had shared the same color instead. Would anything be different? Asides from the obvious… would she still find the appeal she found in him now? Would there really be anything to hold this kind of relationship together? It was a multitude of questions that had her wondering if she even dared to think on them. While all kinds of scenarios ran through her mind, the only thing she couldn't seem to picture him in… was black. It was like the white of his uniform was destined to be the only color to define him… much like the black of her uniform defined who she was and where she belonged. This place… wasn't where her uniform put her and yet, he managed to get her to look past that.

Perhaps this ever growing gray area was the only suitable place for them to coexist as such.

Neither of them complained for it, after all they were happy with their colors.

She preferred the solitude it gave her and how it served as the only link that reminded her of the world she had given away.

He seemed to prefer the tone of skin that resided beneath the mix of black and white. It was the only color they had in common. After all, he had white, pink and amber; she had black and green with the smallest hint of red. And yet, he somehow managed to convince her that had they lived in a world of black and white instead… things would show little change. Colors would be meaningless and yet… they would still live in the ever turning world of gray.


	20. Fortitude

**XX.  
>Fortitude<strong>

"It's all over..." she whispered; running her fingers through his hair. She felt his arms tighten slightly around her waist as he pressed his forehead against her stomach; his shoulders shook with every passing breath that barely managed to escape his lips. Not exactly sure as to why she even bothered speaking, she felt his fingers press lightly into her spine before he seemingly eased up on the pressure.

"There's nothing else to worry about..." she continued; softly soothing him as blood dripped from his wounds and splashed against the floor.

"They're all gone..." he remarked; closing his eyes as she continued to run her fingers through his hair. "Will you stay?"

She paused at his comment; they were all gone now... all the Captains who had proved to be intruders were gone. Last she heard, only the Division Four members were able to make it out alive. Well, partially alive at that.

The group she had came in with were now gone...

She slowly dropped to her knees; cradling his face in her hands as she gently pressed her forehead against his own. Feeling the warmth of blood running down half of his face from an unknown injury; half his uniform was soaked red from wounds that were hidden under the thin fabric. "I'm not leaving your side."

**A/N: Interesting fact, this is actually a piece from a very, very early and very rough draft of what would soon give into the idea of Scientific Method. **


	21. Vacation

**XXI.**

**Vacation**

"It's nice, every once in awhile, to step away and let go."

She loved it here.

She loved the absence of pure chaos of people running all over the place with their inability to make up their minds or unable to remember their placement correctly. It was still and quiet here, there were no people rushing around to fulfill orders or carry out commands; no one was yelling to get their point across; there weren't any randomized explosions or accidental experiments that resulted in some kind of fire and mayhem.

No… it was just… calm.

Almost peaceful.

She was in a completely different world, a different dimension- one that rivaled their own- and yet, she enjoyed being here. Maybe far too much to be of any comfort to anyone else but… to her, this was exactly what she was looking for. Just somewhere where she could relax comfortably without the fear of someone yelling at her.

The fact that he was here was merely a fluke as to why she liked it so much.

The fact that she enjoyed being curled up next to him beneath the mountain of sheets that tangled around their different forms; beneath the heavy covers that provided them with the only piece of material that dressed them properly… that was a small detail to mention.

The feel of his hot breath as it ran down her neck reminded her of this place once more.


	22. Mother Nature

**XXII.**

**Mother Nature**

Carefully running her fingers through his lightly-colored hair, she turned her eyes to the nearby window that lit up every few minutes or so. The rushing rain splattered itself against the outside portion of the glass and distorted any view anyone would have attempted to make; she could still make out the faint outlines of beaten trees who battled against heavy winds. Every now and again, the dark clouds would break open into bright lights before a single bolt would make its way to the ground.

She closed her eyes for a moment and listened to the gentle roar of the thunder as it passed overhead. The storm had moved in overnight and it seemed as though it was content with staying for the time being. She had no complaints about it; the battering weather outside almost seemed harmonic in an odd, grave sense of comfort. Slowly, she turned her attention back to the figure sleeping in front of her. His arms were wrapped loosely around her body with the flat of his hands pressed against her spine; his head rested against her ribcage while his straying hair slightly obscured part of his face. It was almost impossible to deny the relatively peaceful look he held as she brought her fingertips to gently brush aside some of the pink strands that had fallen loose. She just lightly skimmed the curve of his jawline before a sharp crack of thunder caught her barely off-guard but still managed to make her jump just the slightest.

"It's just a sonic shock wave created from the sudden increase in pressure and temperature from lightning that produces rapid expansion of air surrounding and within a bolt of lightning." he muttered quietly as he shifted under her touch. "It's completely harmless."

She continued to brush her fingers through her hair before she lightly drug them down the arc of his neck and touched at the edge of the blanket that curved over the middle of his back. "It's all a psychological matter; a psychological fear."

"Exactly."

"It doesn't psychologically scare me… does that mean you won't hold me closer regardless?"

A seemingly exhausted chuckle left him as he slowly pushed himself up enough to catch the curve of her lips against his own. "In tense situations such as this… sometimes the brain doesn't know what to do or what option to pick first…"

"When it comes down to fight or flight… adrenaline's a hellva drug."

"Then we should fight this thunder."

The switch between psychological matters and physical ones was blurred somewhere between bed sheets and lips as their bodies seemed destined to outpace the lightning outside. It was a mix of fingers locked against flesh and hips moving in rhythm with one another; it was his downward motions met by her upward thrust that drove the storm around them louder and faster. Between the cracks of thunder and howling winds, she could hear the heavy pants that were heaved from his lungs and expelled from his lips; her own heart thundered inside of her ribcage and felt as though it was forcing her ribs from their membranes. Her hands pulled him down against her and sealed the remaining space to nothing; allowing only the flash of lightning between them.


	23. Cat

**XXIII.**

**Cat**

Sometimes, watching her move reminded him of a simplistic feline.

She was just as curious at times; taking her time to slowly observe and study something from a distance before she moved in for a closer look. A closer observation of her body language showed the caution and preparedness she walked with. It was like she was walking on her toes and minding every step along the way. Her mind running through the entire thought process of the situation; evaluating different scenarios and outcomes that all branched off of one another. And sometimes… she almost seemed to move carelessly. When she knew exactly what she wanted and knew exactly what to do, there was no stopping her. She broke through every obstacle and tore through anything that had been placed to hinder her; when it came down to being prepared for any kind of situation… she was almost on top of it.

Even her movements seemed to reflect that kind of judgment. Only, there was no hesitation.

She moved effortlessly and could change her direction with just the smallest of twists. It was almost like watching a dancer. She brought on a sense of beauty and gracefulness to the battlefield; combining it with her brute force and unforgiving lack of mercy. When it came down to physical combat, she was like a machine. Unforgiving, unemotional, and unable to register the pleads of sympathy that erupted from her opponents.

Or at least, that's what she could've been.

She was too easy to control and followed orders without even questioning them. If someone told her to stop, she did; if someone told her not to fight, she wouldn't; if someone told her to walk into a trap, she did so purposely. He found it as a terrible waste of a good subject. There was so much potential in her, it was almost a disaster to misuse her for such things. Although, he sure as hell wasn't the best one to advocate for that.

He had… perhaps taken advantage of those attributes of hers.

But, when she had such grace and beauty paired with the inability to register either her or her opponent's pain… well that in itself was just asking for corruption.


	24. No Time

**XXIV.**

**No Time**

To be honest, she should've been busy working in the labs. She should've been running those reports back and forth across the facility; she should've been minding to the lab rules and enforcing them when others couldn't seem to remember them as well; she should've been focused on working on those new experiments and test subjects who came in today… but she wasn't. Time was of the essence and she had little to spare and yet… she paid no heed to what it should've been spent on. Experiments could wait, breaking a few rules wasn't going to kill someone, and those reports were of little importance right now.

She just preferred to spend the time with him instead though.

Everything else could wait.

**X**

There was rumored to be meetings all day and somewhere between each hour-long session, he was supposed to find the time to maintain his lab and at least attempt to make sure nothing was ruined during his absence. There was little trust to be put in his Fracción staff; needless to say all of them seemed to only act with half of a brain and that small half was partly damaged. And yet, he was still expected to participate in these ridiculous discussions that held little to no value to him and didn't seem to affect him in the least bit; but no, the so-called 'idiots' in charge were so determined to make everyone's life a living hell with their expertise in wasting time. The only bright side in the matter was… well there was no bright side.

Those meetings carried on without his presence.

Everyone else could wait.

"_I hope you realize how little time we have together…"_

"_Well I realize something like that." _


	25. Trouble Lurking

**XXV.**

**Trouble Lurking**

How long had it been? Years maybe? It felt like decades had stitched themselves into her skin and added weights to every part of her body. On the outside, she carried them on with ease and showed little change; on the inside, it felt like every piece of her was decaying itself into the rotting, repulsive shadows of what they had once been.

Physically, she was well suited.

Emotional, things had yet to change.

Mentally, she was going insane.

Everyone was saying that things seemed different but no one wanted to make a note about it. Isane said she was worried; Nanao only narrowed her eyes; Matsumoto tried not to make a deal out of it; Hinamori started to say something but stopped herself. Something was wrong… she just didn't know what.

That was a lie, she did know what was wrong but nothing fell in line till one incident.

Akon said something… she didn't mean it…

One minute he was trying to review her facts on a certain experiment.

The next minute, the other Division members were pulling her away.

She didn't know what happened; she couldn't remember anything from the incident. The only things she knew about the incident was from what the others had told her. They said it literally looked like she had snapped; it was a dangerous situation since her strength outranked those around her… Akon wasn't the only one who had been injured in the accident- the reports stated there were about ten others as well.

She didn't want this.

She was losing it.

But… there was a reason for it.

The only reasonable one… dated back to those years before. That one battle that had marked the darkest day in the Winter War, or at least she had labeled it as such. Whenever she thought back to it, all she could think of was how everyone had abandoned her and allowed for that Espada to use her as such. But that wasn't true. They didn't abandon her, they just couldn't react in time… and yet, no matter how much she screamed that at herself, she couldn't make herself believe it.

He was changing her.

She could still feel that presence flowing through her blood and inside of her body; he was driving her to madness…

How ironic.

She had once been built to be perfect and then ridiculed for being insignificant and stupid… She tried to separate herself from her Captain as much as possible and tried to keep her presence to a minimum when she was around. There was a fear… a fear that if he pointed out her flaws again… she would kill him.

The man she had been created from, who she had served as the highest being in her life, was turning into her enemy.

And yet… her enemy was being something she could no longer avoid. He was a part of her now… there was no way of denying it anymore.

"Even in death… he controls me."


	26. Tears

**XXVI.**

**Tears**

"Are you crying?"

She looked over at the question, almost surprised that it came from him. For a moment, he almost looked like he was honestly sincere about it but it was brushed away and replaced with that ever kind of arrogant look he carried.

"Why would you ask me that?"

He hadn't expected that return question and found himself not entirely sure what to say next. Why did he seemingly give her the power to get this kind of control over him?

"I just… I thought I'd ask."

"You're horrible at giving answers."

"Well maybe if you gave me better questions." he remarked, more to himself than anyone else. "Nothing, I just… I thought something was wrong, that's all."

She supposed she couldn't hold it against him for caring. A low sigh escaped her as she leaned further back into the couch beneath her. "It's fine."

"Well as far as I can tell, everything here is fine; everything's running perfectly and so far, there hasn't been a single unannounced, unwanted visitor- although that is likely to change at any given moment." he remarked; crossing his arms now as he leaned in against the steady doorframe around him. "But then again, I didn't ask about how things here were going; I wanted to know about you."

Him and that damn logic of his.

"I'm fine, I promise."

"You don't look so sure about that."

"The more you ask me, the less sure I'll be." she replied. "Because you'll keep annoying me."

"Well that's lovely to know."

She felt his eyes on her linger for a bit before he slowly pushed himself from the doorway and walked back out into the corridor; leaving her to her own presence and silence once more. Normally she enjoyed this kind of solitude but now… now she wasn't so sure. Things were happening and changing all at once, she had lost her footing a few times and found herself at the very beginning of it instead of the end. She had never predicted something like this would happen but then again… sometimes she enjoyed the unexpected. Sometimes a surprise now and then seemed healthy.

And sometimes… sometimes she just wanted things to be normal again. Not that she really even knew what that was from the start.

She carefully reached up to massage the small space between her eyes; surprised at the light hint of liquid on her fingertips. She really was crying, wasn't she?

Why?


	27. Foreign

**XXVII.**

**Foreign**

It was a strange, odd sensation whenever he found himself around her.

Other times, he gave little thought to any other personnel who was around him; even for his fellow Espadas, there was little more than a possible second thought and even that ended fairly easily. The only things he cared for was progress and Science. And yet… her continuous presence was beginning to distraught that ever concrete routine of his.

He wasn't entirely sure if he was annoyed by it or intrigued instead.

"I wish you would stop that."

Those sinless eyes of hers looked up from where they had been fixated on a leather-bound book in hand; no doubt it was yet another countless novel of formulas and different thought processes he had gone through in a day or so. She always seemed curious about them but he felt uncomfortable with her reading them at times- it felt like she was trying to get to know him more than he was trying to get to know her. Not that there was a lot to know.

Former Division Twelve Lieutenant.

Former Shinigami.

Former enemy.

"Stop what?"

The question seemed simple and innocent enough as those nimble fingers of hers carefully placed the book back into its place on the shelf; leaving no trace that it had been moved in the first place.

Why did she always make things difficult unknowingly?

"Changing everything."

"I apologize… I wasn't aware I was making such a mess."

In some sense, yes, she was making a mess.

Unfortunately it wasn't out of the environment.

It was out of him.


	28. Sorrow

**XXVIII.**

**Sorrow**

"I don't know what's wrong with me. Lately I've just been tired and my body aches for no reason. Physically, I'm in good health, there's no reason why I should be like this. And yet, sometimes I can't even bring myself to get out of bed. I've been messing up orders lately and Captain Mayuri is getting upset but I can't fix it when I can't even figure out the problem. Why is this happening?"

The fourth Division Lieutenant nodded with her words as though to agree and silently say that she had been noticing the changes in her as well. There was a stiffness in her lower lip as it was pressed back against her upper one in some means of thought; and yet, there was a feeling that the woman knew something but hadn't decided on whether or not to tell her just yet. "I… well we've all noticed a slight change in you but I didn't know it had escaladed into this. I might have a few thoughts of what's been going on lately but none of them really seem to fit you correctly… to be honest, you're kind of difficult to diagnose."

She did know something.

"What are these hypothesis of yours?"

There was just a slight catch of air at her lips, as though her fellow Lieutenant was finally collecting and piecing things together. "I… well uh, let me ask you something instead. Has anything recently been affecting you emotionally perhaps?"

Emotionally? She would be the first to say that she had long since disconnected herself from those 'emotions.' They got in the way and made things difficult; she couldn't get work done if she was always questioning why things had to be like that or why they had to do this. "No. What does that have to do with this?"

"Uh well… now that you've brought all of this up and I've been kind of making mental notes about obvious changes from you… it's just… it looks like you're… depressed."

"Depressed?" she repeated, almost slowly at first as though to make sure she caught every syllable of the word. "I don't understand."

Another sigh left the taller woman as she slowly ran a single hand down her face. "Depression tends to follow after an emotional and/or traumatic event. People don't realize it's affecting them at first until it turns into physical pains. It's like… a mental disease that you can't control and you can't easily defeat. Disease is probably the worst word to use for this but I'm running on guesses right now. It leads to a lack of focus, a loss of meaning and physical aches for no reason; you've been exhibiting some of these signs lately but you're just now coming to terms with them. I mean… are you sure there's nothing wrong?"

"Isane, I'm almost positive-" her own mind seemed to stop her mid-sentence. The words died at the tip of her tongue as another thought processed cleanly through her. "What… kind of traumatic event would be necessary to trigger this?"

"There's a whole list of them, I mean, someone dying, being betrayed, uh, a close call with possible death." Isane listed; somehow finding herself struggling through it now the moment someone questioned her about it. "Did you have… an event in mind?"

It felt like a stiff rod was impaled through her body at the question and some long-forgotten piece of her panicked. "During one of the Winter War battles, when Captain Mayuri and myself were sent to Hueco Mundo to engage in battle…"

"Renji relayed that battle report to me." Isane quickly interrupted; her facial expression said that she had heard of the battle and had frankly heard far too much of it to be comfortable with. "But yeah, something like that would count as a traumatic event although…"

"Although what?"

"Depression is not what I would have expected as a result. I mean, maybe just a minor sense of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder but… well needless to say, I would have imagined you would've easily gotten over that. Depression kind of… well it seems to change the output of this event…"

"Are you saying mentally I'm… grieving for it?" she questioned.

"Not exactly, but you could look at it that way if you want."

"I can't believe this… after everything that happened and after what he put me through… I'm actually grieving for him."

"Whoa… hang on, I didn't say anything like that."

"I know you didn't."


	29. Happiness

**XXIX.**

**Happiness**

There was a first time for everything.

They had gone through plenty of first times separate and together but now… this one seemed to impact them the most.

She couldn't remember a time when she smiled for so long, or even smiled at all; and yet, that almost seemed like a first reaction whenever she saw him. There was something in the way he just looked at her, even if it was just in a glance; something in the way he touched her, even if it was just a graze; just something in his overall presence around her… It seemed childish and immature, like they were hormonal-induced teenagers but sometimes that's how they seemed to function.

She couldn't help but to find herself oddly attracted to him and his ever-changing physical form.

It reminded her of how the other female Shinigamis used to gush over some of the male Division members. She never understood why or never really saw anything in them but now… now she understood them and their emotions.

For once, she felt like this was it.

Maybe he would help her find sense in this.

Why did she enjoy the way he held her for too long of a time?

Or enjoy the way he grabbed a hold of her whenever he wanted her attention?

After everything he's done to her, why did she enjoy every aspect of him so much?

**X**

She drove him insane.

In a good sense… if there was a good side to that.

It seemed like she knew every little tick that pushed that barrier he had placed on himself. Whether it was in a gentle swing of her hips that she did on purpose, or the light shake of her head that swung her black braid around along the curve of her back. Any little movement… broke him down piece by piece.

There was this odd, addicting sense in tracing fingertips along the outer surface of her flesh; following the contours of the muscular walls that were layered underneath. It was near impossible to not want to dissect her using just sight; he could remember every curve, every scar, every piece of her that had been pressed up against him was burned into his memory.

How did she do that?

How could she bring that kind of absent-minded feeling to him?

They were created without hearts and carried out without a second thought to these kind of… 'emotions.' The only thing they cared for was survival and hate.

And yet, she added a third care to that list.


	30. Under the Rain

**XXX.**

**Under the Rain**

"It's intriguing, yes?"

He barely heard her question over the sound of the rain striking the glass nestled in the window frame or even over the soft roll of thunder overhead. His curiosity had been played as he watched the dark storm roll in across the sky; thick, black clouds moved like unanchored battleships as they steadily made their way towards some unknown destination. The dry, quiet deserts of Los Noches lacked this kind system and seemed to reject all types of weather; the dimension itself lack water and yet here it fell freely from overhead.

She took note that he barely even seemed interested in what she said and instead kept himself to the full-length window on the other end of the room. Carefully, she slipped herself free from the covers and quietly moved across the floor to him; listening to the sound of the boards silently creaking beneath every footstep and adjustment of weight balance. It was sometimes common for it to rain in the city, so she had long gotten used to it; he, on the other hand, had only seen it just a handful of times- maybe even less than that. For all she knew, this was the first time he had witnessed it.

Slowly, she wrapped her arms around his narrow waist and rested her head against one of his arms; watching as every single raindrop that hit the window splattered it's internal being across the glass. "Would you prefer to get a hands on experience with it?"

"No, that's quite alright; I think I prefer to stay dry." he answered as he looked down to where she had slowly slipped herself into the empty space at his side. "You're all the more welcomed to though."

"I have had plenty of experiences in it, there's no need to conduct further research just to get the same result." she replied.

"I don't know, I think the mental image of your hair and clothing tethered to your body is enough to convince otherwise."

"Hmm, only if you join me." she replied. "But I think you'll learn quickly why sometimes wearing a black uniform is the better choice."


	31. Flowers

**XXXI.**

**Flowers**

Vengeance.

Strictness.

Independence.

She was none of those and yet, she still spoke of how the Thistle was the only flower she had cared for. Her hands showed small scars from where the sharp thorns had been unforgiving to her touch, even when she was the one keeping it alive. But no matter how much she gave away to it, no matter how much of herself she dedicated to it… it always returned those gestures with a sense of hatred.

"Why would you care for something that is incapable of returning that kind of dedication?"

She never gave him a clear answer and only seemed to sink herself further into the protective shell she had encased herself in. He would watch as she'd divert her eyes and seemingly run countless answers through her mind but never once… would she give one of them to him. It was irritating but he tried not to press the subject… it was just a stupid flower…

The petals were white and from a distance, they almost appeared to be transparent; they were soft to the touch and yet, felt as though they would wither should they be exposed to physical contact for too long. The stem was covered in small bristle hairs that were stiff at first but slowly softened under the inside light.

"_They only bloom three times a year and for the remainder of the months, they seclude themselves from view. It's rare to find them but when you do, they're often in a bundle or sometimes collected in small bushels. The absence of a sun is what causes the lack of color pigmentation; the cold is the reason for the hairs on the stem."_

"…_What does it stand for? What's it's purpose?"_

"_It doesn't have a purpose; it's a flower and nothing else."_

_"That's not true… if you're going to present this to me… give me a reason why it matters. Tell me why you decided to show it to me."_

"_I… it… it used to stand for Hope… we figured if a tiny flower like this could survive in that kind of terrain… then we could too. If you're looking for a symbolism for it… it's hope, and rebirth."_

_"Is that what you're looking for in us?" _


	32. Night

**XXXII.**

**Night**

There was the old saying 'Warm heart, cold hands' or maybe it was 'Cold hands, warm heart.'

His hands were always cold but… well there was a problem when it came to the 'warm heart' part.

Instead, his… 'kind' had quite another saying, which although similar in words was quite different in nature. Whenever someone mentioned 'Cold nights, warm hands' there was a sense of desperation in the words and it tended to dictate more to just a spur of the moment thing; there were a lot of cold nights but sometimes, warm hands were in short supply.

She remembered looking at the way he slept when he was with her; sometimes there was this sense of carefree/ carelessness that occupied him and other times, it seemed like mass panic. He always had these thick walls around him when he worked, as though he needed to protect who he was at all times; but it was during these times at night, when he was fitfully unconscious, when those metaphorical walls came down.

Fingers slipped through his hair as she slowly traced them through each small lock of hair before starting over when she ran out. He didn't even stir or budge during the time and instead, seemed content with the motion even when in temporary hibernation. One arm was lightly draped over her side as he partly buried himself against her body; she could feel the warm exhale of air from his lips spread across her sternum before it was slowly brought back in.

"And you wonder why you're always so tired in the morning…" he whispered.

"No, I mostly wonder why you're always so warm at nights." she corrected.

A light, tired chuckle left him as he pulled her in closer to him. "Because your hands are always cold."


	33. Expectations

**XXXIII.**

**Expectations**

"Do you want to talk about it?"

The question caught him by surprise as he barely made it inside of the main room. He watched as she seemed to have made herself comfortable waiting on the couch for him. Her body was leaned back against the arm of the couch while she had her legs lightly tucked underneath her.

"Because I think we should."

He nodded and made his way over to where she was; taking the empty space next to her. "Where do we start?"

"I guess from the beginning." she replied. "No one really questioned the genetics about it so no one really knew the possibilities. A human and Shinigami is one thing but… a Hollow and a Shinigami is completely different. The genetic crossings and such just… no one thinks they would happen."

"When you look at it from a certain standpoint, both are bodies are human-like… there was really nothing physically stopping it from occurring." he started.

"But your body wasn't always human." she reminded.

"True." he agreed. "But that kind of evolution doesn't matter at this point. Now unless your body recognizes the cells as being a threat and eliminates them, then that would coincide with what we've all been thinking. How long has it been?"

She carefully pulled her legs free and rested them lightly across his lap. "I've done a bit of the math and the more accurate answer I can conclude is four weeks."

"That's out of our time frame." he nodded. "Which means…"

"My body hasn't recognized your cells as an enemy." she concluded.

"It doesn't make any sense…"

She watched as he leaned back against the back cushions and lightly rubbed his temples. "Well now, if we were to think about this… this isn't the first time your cells were mixed with mine."

"Unless you're referring to our earlier sessions then it would prove little sense." he started before it dawned on him. "But… you weren't. When I regenerated my body inside of yours… it explains why the cells have lasted this long."

She nodded along with him. "So I guess that means, in this case, it's possible."

"I guess so."

"So what do we do?"

He sighed and pushed his hair from his face once more. "I don't know. For the first time in my life, I don't know."

She watched as he seemed to be caught between torment and just utter confusion. Pushing herself off the arm of the couch, she leaned over and gently tucked her head against the curve of his shoulder. "We should agree on a decision together. I... I think we should keep it."

His fingers moved to carefully brush the loose strands of hair from her face. "You think so?"

"I want to see where it goes." she started. "It's made it this far and if it can make it even further… I want to know."

"This is new and strange to the both of us… we're both walking into this situation blind." he spoke; fingertips running along the curve of her jawline. "But I won't deny and say that I'm not the least bit curious either. Let's face it, we have the chance to see something that had been deemed impossible. And not to mention… I want to know too. I want to know what it's going to be and what it's going to look like."

She chuckled lightly and placed her hand against the soft dip of his chest. "Is this our decision then?"

"Yes."

**A/N: Fun Fact: this was originally a piece from Scientific Method as well but I decided to scrap it and a few other chapters last minute. **


	34. Stars

**XXXIV.**

**Stars**

"It's strange isn't it?"

"What is?"

"I've only noticed them now… they've been up there for billions of years and yet, it's taken me this long to even acknowledge them."

He watched her as she leaned against the railing of the small balcony just outside his bedroom; the midnight breeze caught hold of the hem of her dress and lightly fluttered it across the back of her legs. Slowly, he abandoned the papers he had been working on and walked out to join her; trying to make sense of her sudden obsession. He couldn't really understand people's romantic fascination with the balls of plasma held together only by gravity… there wasn't anything idealistic about them at all. But… he decided to give into her this time and refrained from making a comment; instead, he tried to take in the moment with her.

"I know they hold no real significance." she started, almost as though she had read his mind. "Even to myself, they're nothing more than shining cores made of the thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen. And yet, I think my memory is trying to perceive me. I remember listening to the others gossip about these walks beneath the stars and I never understood why that was a case for any kind of connection. There's nothing to get from them… it's not like they alter us personally… those ideas are made from myths and folktales."

"And yet… you can't seem to let those thoughts go, can you?" he replied. "There are those kind of people who are naïve enough to believe that certain alignments during certain months can change something for you… they give them names, symbols and spin a chart to see what crazy thing is going to happen that day; they try to predict lucky numbers and colors. But in the end… it's just a cloud of hydrogen, helium and evidence of other elements… nothing else. They happen by chance and by force. They hold absolutely no significance to us."

"But those thoughts and ideals still try to break free from that… trying to create a separation from science and bridge into irrational thinking."


	35. Hold My Hand

**XXXV.**

**Hold My Hand**

"Why do you insist on going through this kind of… exercise?"

Her eyes narrowed lightly at his question, as though to ask why he wanted to pose such an argument against a small task. "I've observed several other significant others repeat this kind of ritual over and over again… I think it would be in our best interest if we experiment with it as well."

He had witnessed plenty of other beings repeating several of the same or similar actions over and over again but that didn't necessarily mean he wanted to go out and experiment with the methods. But… he supposed there was really no room for argument regardless; it was a simple task and perhaps he overreacted but it was also a simple task that was in no significance to make such a big deal out of. "Fine, but I don't see what kind of advancement will be coming from this 'exercise.'"

"Perhaps a bit of silence." she remarked lightly as she played with the fingers that were locked between her own; they were knitted together in a secured position that would hopefully hold them together for the duration of the social experiment. She had witnessed the others do it and it seemed like something that was highly enjoyable- he did not see to share the same feelings though; for some odd reasons, he hated his hands being touched and this in itself seemed like torture to him. She always admired his hands though and took note of how much smaller hers seemed in comparison; his fingers were nimble and slim which made them seem almost elongated- his gloves helped to slightly mask their visual though. "You know… the hand is the primary limb for physically manipulative the environment; it's used for both gross motor skills, like picking up a massive object but is also used for fine motor skills, such as picking up the tiniest object as well."

She was just attempting to make conversation… but it would be rude to ignore the call of it. "Some of the densest areas of nerve endings are located in the fingertips, which are also the richest source of tactile feedback." her hands were much smaller when held in his own, which made them easier to manipulate- as she said. He carefully unlocked their fingers and moved to lightly grasp around the sides instead; the flat of his thumb lightly traced over the soft shapes of her knuckles. "They're also the main source for the sense of touch."

"Twenty-seven bones and two groups of muscles." she continued as she carefully slipped her fingers free and slid them over the back of his hand; touching at the downward curve of his wrist before she drug them all the way back to his fingertips. "I think that's enough for this experiment-" she stopped when she felt him lightly take them back; locking their fingers together once more.

"I don't think it's going to hurt anyone if we… extend the timing of this exercise."

**A/N: I find it surprising that people ask for more chapters with their daughter, which I have fun typing but didn't think anyone else would seem to find as much enjoyment in. Somehow, that backfired on me but I'm completely okay with that. Unfortunately, the first 50 themes have already been prewritten and there's only one more chapter with the daughter in it; however, the second 50 themes have yet to be completed, so I'll try to squeeze in a few more. **


	36. Precious Treasure

**XXXVI.**

**Precious Treasure**

She waited for the door to be pulled closed before she carefully looked down at the small infant who had been placed against her chest. There was no doubt that the near ten-hour labor ordeal had nearly depleted her body of it's energy… but she still had enough strength to observe the newborn. Fingertips lightly touched at the baby's temple and softly curved down along her round cheek before fingers slid off the circular chin. She watched as the child slowly moved its lips before it drew in a light inhale.

Readjusting the pink blanket that bundled the infant together, she gently fitted her hand underneath the baby's arm and watched as her small fingers reached out slightly and attempted to cling to the loose material of her sleeve. Supported almost completely just by laying on her chest, the infant seemed fully content with one cheek pressed against the bare flesh of her sternum; her fingers moving to curl into her flesh instead now.

Carefully observing the baby's movements, she noted that after just several minutes of resting on her chest and slowly rising with each breath… the child slowly began to mimic her own breathing patterns; it only took a few more minutes before they were perfectly in sync with one another.

There was no denying the light smile that seemed to play on her lips as she continued to study the child. Or rather… their daughter. She was the first offspring between a Shinigami and an Arrancar- a feat that had once seemed impossible; it almost felt unreal that she had managed to make it to this point… but she did and she was right here.

"I can't promise you everything between our two worlds." she whispered; watching as the infant seemed to react to her voice. "But if I can give you one promise… it'll be that regardless of what world you choose, you'll be happy…"

The infant seemed to nestle herself closer to her and settled deeply in the encasing blanket for the false sense of familiar warmth; guided by the soft pattern of her breathing and the soothing tone of her voice.

"…Akira."


	37. Eyes

**XXXVII.**

**Eyes**

She used to think that she had been around plenty of specimens and people to say that she had seen a greater amount of variation when it came to the human body. She thought she had seen every variation of hair color, eye color, different body shapes, body structures, anything that could be examined was noted of and she use to assume that was the end of it. And yet… he made her add a few more notes to her mental checklist.

Those eyes of his were almost the perfect shade of amber and she was hesitant to admit they shared the same traits with the material they mimicked. The color was praised for it's natural beauty and… she tried to keep herself from describing his in the same way. But she did. Because they fitted that description perfectly. She didn't hesitate because they could've been flawed; she hesitated because she found herself getting continuously lost in them. He used to complain that her staring made him uneasy and he didn't like the close ups on his eyes; maybe they were flawed in the sheer fact that the only thing that damaged them was the clear lens that protected them.

She used to tease him about them though. She had never seen a man with amber eyes before… then again, she hadn't seen one with pink hair either. He seemed use to the comments by now and easily brushed them aside as though they meant nothing. But she didn't want to give up on them.

They were enticing.

Intriguing.

And all the more… captivating.

She wasn't going to hide the fact that she had noticed how his long eyelashes only seemed to enhance them even more; they helped to further his expressions as the smooth amber shade was hardly noticed when he was annoyed and/or angered over something. He hated the way she enjoyed studying them and watching the way they were expressed in emotions; he told her that it wouldn't have been his first choice in color but it wasn't like he could change it now.

Technically he could but she figured he didn't want to make that kind of decision. After all, to him, there were more important things than changing one's eye color and he wasn't going to be wasting his time with it.

It didn't bother her in the least bit.

She loved them just the same.


	38. Abandoned

**XXXVIII.**

**Abandoned**

It wasn't like she actually left… he let her go.

He let her go and she took the opportunity; in all respect, she deserved the choice to choose between which one she wanted. And in the end, that was her own decision; there wasn't anything he could do about it. Well, technically he could but… making her stay by force wasn't the best kind of solution and it would've erupted into even greater problems.

If he could just convince himself that it was for the best, that this decision would make things easier and more bearable… then it would be fine. But he couldn't. Shit, he just… couldn't even lie to himself about it.

And the more he thought about it… the more he was losing.

He was losing his grip on everything.

But this was how things used to be; this was how he used to live out every day. So why was it so difficult to go back to that? Why did one little change, one little appearance suddenly break apart the world he had created for himself? He just wanted to go back to the world he had once known… so why was it gone now? Did she really make that much of an impact on him?

He was supposed to act the part of the crazy, mentally-unstable scientist; the one who was far too engulfed in studying and dissecting to even be viewed as normal any more; the one who couldn't be left alone without supervision for too long… the one who mutilated his own body for the sake of finding out something new, just for the hell of it.

Okay well… he wasn't quite that extensive or at least… he wasn't at that level just yet.

The thought was becoming unwillingly appealing though.

She was gone.

He could accept that.

Unfortunately, he was losing himself too.


	39. Dreams

**XXXIX.**

**Dreams**

_I heard people talking about having a happy place,_

_So I decided to create one for myself._

_The fact you were in it is only a coincidence… _

The silken cocoon she had wrapped herself in was slowly being invaded.

His hands carefully replaced the sheets that had once touched and engulfed her body. Peeling away the white layers, he skimmed fingertips across her flesh and stirred up the sensitive nerves beneath with the warm contact. She curled her fingers into the soft mattress under her as he leaned down and touched his lips against the back curve of her neck; his warm breath caused a light shudder to run vertically down her spine.

"I imagined making love to you this morning…"

Her melancholic-stained green eyes looked up towards him as his touch carefully moved her onto her back. The protective sheet around her broke apart into a tangled, folded mess that laid motionless against her slender body; her slim legs barely concealed in the silk remains. Fingertips traced the soft curve of her jaw and followed the lines of her body down to the front dip of her neck. Her heart felt tense as he trailed his fingers down her sternum and slid them slowly into the valley between her breasts; lingering just long enough to seemingly emphasize the touch before he continued on. She felt her abdomen shudder involuntarily as he stroked the sensitive flesh with his presence.

"I imagined what it would be like to taste you again…"

He touched at the soft, downward curve between her navel and lower stomach; her fingers tensed and tangled into soft pillows beneath her as he trailed even further down. Hands pushed aside what remained of the sheets and left her body completely open to him as he skimmed the warm flesh of her thighs. It was enough to lightly startle her breath before he moved to follow the more interesting curve that stroked the inside of her legs.

"I wanted to hear you."

Fingertips lightly traced the crevice in the center of his chest as she pushed herself to finally test if this really a dream or not; the soft material of his uniform wrinkled underneath her touch as she slowly allowed herself to slide down along the center curve of his body.

"You're real… aren't you?"

"You tell me."

Her hand seemed to hesitate for a moment before it carefully reached for one of his; fingers intertwined with his own before she slowly pulled him back up along her body. Her hand guided his fingers along the same curve of her abdomen and chest before she brought it to cup the curve of her jawline; the coldness of his skin seemed to touch her through the thin materials of his gloves. His thumb gently ran over her lower lip before he leaned down to touch them with his own.

"No… no you're not."


	40. Chapter 40

**XXXX.**

**Rated (R)**

"Everything from before…" he whispered.

Hands carefully coaxing her back against the bed; she fell victim to the soft kiss that was only added to sweeten the deal.

"Was horribly inadequate."

He traced a path from the corner of her lips to the curve of her jawline; taking his time to brush the curve of his lips against her soft flesh. She shuddered at the touch of his warm mouth against her still throat as she allowed him open access to the vital areas of her body; given the chance and her vulnerability, he could've killed her if he wanted to but… they had long since passed that point in these kind of 'meetings.' He moved slowly downward as he touched at every inch of flesh that was held as some sort of sacrifice to him.

Fingertips made careful movements as they untied the kimono from around her body; peeling away inches of fabric piece by piece till it was her slender shoulders giving away to her robust chest; her wide hips to her muscular legs. She felt him brush against the flat of her sternum as his fingers finished tugging off the rest of her uniform; the black material managed to float itself off the side of the bed and crumble somewhere against the enemy's floor. It was temptation that drove a short moan from her as the tip of his tongue slowly traced shapes and forms against her chest; the heat between them somehow continued to pass itself from one body and into the next till it was circulating endlessly inside of them.

She could feel the heat jump as he continued to follow a line down along her body; his lips touching against the valley between her breasts and following the grooved landmark down to the slender curve downward of her ribcage. Hands resisted the urge to touch him as he moved onward to the more sensitive flesh of her abdomen. She moved her body with his own; giving herself into a small arch as he touched at the nerve-tingling skin around her navel. As much as she wanted to resist, she had already given herself to him; there was no sense in trying to fight it anymore.

It was always a thrill of flesh baring down on flesh as his hands held onto her body; fingertips baring enough pressure to leave bruises against her skin. He always had a way of making her ache inside and out when he was done with her. Sometimes the pleasure and pain balanced out; sometimes they didn't. It was always enjoyable for the both of them in the end though. She never had a partner who seemed completely in-tuned to her body; she was one of few who could fully please him. It always started out through temptation, seduction, deception… they were technically on different ends of the spectrum here.

And yet, every night they said grace to fuck those rules.

They used grace to penetrate and master the ordeal they surrounded themselves in.

Even if she had the strength and will to quit, she wouldn't.

Even if he had the control to stop, he wouldn't.


	41. Teamwork

**XXXXI.**

**Teamwork**

There were piles of either bodies or miscellaneous pieces of what might've been bodies at one point.

The level of carnage and bloodshed marked the walls, flooded the floors and suffocated the room with the scent of butchery.

He kind of liked it.

Not so much of the physical part that came with it, or the seemingly never-ending cycle of fighting, but the blood and slaughter that followed afterwards. He wasn't keen on the injuries either but sacrifices were sacrifices. In the end, he was the one who got the best of the deal; after all, there were plenty of remaining able bodies to cut apart.

"I'm surprised at how well you were able to hold up against them." he remarked; listening to the almost satisfying shriek as his blade slid back into the sheath at his side.

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you."

"How witty."

She carefully brushed the back of her hand across the bloodied scuff that shredded one temple; putting just enough pressure against it in hopes to slow the bleeding down. For once, her body ached from the drawn out physical battle; she ached from the bruises and gashes that stained her skin; she ached mentally from reviewing and predicting every single movement from every single fighter she encountered. In the end, she was still alive though… and they weren't.

Well, they were both still alive at this point.

"Should we get started on these bodies now?"

She looked over at the question and couldn't help but to notice that ever-present sadistic expression on his face. There wasn't a moment that didn't go by without him looking as though he wanted nothing more to do than cut open something, human or animal; alive or dead.

She had a feeling those habits were beginning to rub off on her.

"Yes."


	42. Standing Still

**XXXXII.**

**Standing Still**

If she remained motionless, it felt like reality as they knew it was slowing down.

Like the ever revolving world was finally coming to a spinning stop and giving them just a few minutes to take a step off the fast-paced ride. And she took those few short moments to re-evaluate just the notion of staying still; reflecting and retaliating against the motion to solve every angle of it.

"What are you doing?"

"Just standing here." she answered simply. "Do you want to stand with me?"

He frowned slightly at the request. "Not really, no."

"Not even for a moment?"

"Let me think, no."

She chuckled lightly and glanced over in his direction; noticing that slightly confused, curious yet almost irritated look on his face. "That's just like you, isn't it?"

"Yes, preserving every minute to be used actually doing something instead of just… standing around." he replied; bringing his arms up to cross over his chest. "Is that so wrong?"

"No, but then again, I don't see any harm in taking a still break. Do you?"

"Well… no I suppose not, but regardless, I'll view it as a waste of time either way."

"Is that so?"

There was a flash of slight hesitation in his eyes, as though he was looking for some kind of cryptic message in those three words. The short question itself seemed to tip him off as he carefully rebuilt his defense. "Yes…"

"Can you tell me what you're doing right now?"

It took a moment. "… That's not funny."


	43. Dying

**XXXXIII.**

**Dying**

He was dying.

She could tell by the way his amber eyes could barely remain focused on her own; his vision shifted in and out of focus behind those shattered frames. His white uniform was stained completely red as blood filtered free from his open stomach and spilled out over the floor underneath him. As hard as it was to try and not notice the damage, it felt like her eyes were always drawn to the tangle of gel-like intestines that threatened to push past his blood-drenched hand.

"I'm so sorry." she whispered; unable to find any other words.

For a moment, his eyes caught onto her own and stayed there for several seconds before they faded off once more. "I know you'll keep her safe…" he spoke as his fingertips lightly brushed across her cheek. "You don't need me… to remind you."

It was taking every ounce of strength for her to remain strong for him. "Akira can't live without her father; she loves you."

"She'll learn." he whispered; trailing his fingertips back and forth across her cheek. "She's smart… one day she'll learn." he could faintly see the tears welling up in those green eyes above him. "You can finally be happy."

Her fingertips lightly pushed aside the strands that had fallen into his face; carefully trailing down to wipe away the blood from his pale lips. "I was always happy." she replied as she reached up and slipped her fingers between his own. "You taught me how to be… Face it, I could've left whenever I wanted to… but I always stayed. I couldn't… I couldn't be without you."

Fingertips lightly grasped onto her own for a moment before he quietly pulled her down to lightly kiss her forehead. "I'm sorry…"

"This wasn't supposed to happen." she started. "They weren't supposed to be here."

"Maybe not… but we were playing a dangerous game… from the start." he replied. "Maybe we should've… known this wasn't… going to last."

Her hands dropped to lightly cup his face as she softly brought her forehead to press against his. "I can't accept that."

He carefully cupped his hand over the back of her neck as he pulled her forward a bit more. "I know you can't… I can't either but… we can't keep denying it."

"Stop saying this is… logical." she softly objected. "I won't accept that there's a… logical explanation for this."

"Shh…" he started; moving his fingers to gently touch at her wet cheeks. "Don't cry… it's okay…"

"It won't be." she replied. "It will never be."

There was no denying the sound of hurt in her words as he found that his touches did little to comfort her when she was preoccupied with the future. It was difficult to think he wouldn't see her past this moment or even watch his own daughter grow up but the injury had passed the point of being fatal… he was just lingering on now. "You know before… when we couldn't figure us out?" he questioned; watching as she nodded softly in answer. "I don't think we ever… reached a definite answer but… I remember something that… reminded of why I was… curious about you. It was your eyes… I couldn't understand how… how they could seem so empty… like no one was living inside… I couldn't explain it. It's difficult… for me to understand how… how they're completely different now."

"I remember how I used to think your eyes were odd. Amber was such an odd color for you and I always thought your eyelashes were too long." she started.

"Well thanks." he replied. "You've changed though."

"I'm not the only one." she commented. "I'd like to think I helped to stable you out a bit."

"Or made it worse." he remarked with a light chuckle. His fingers carefully brushed aside the lock of hair that had fallen loose and tucked it behind her ear. "Just remember one thing… I love you…"

This was it.

He was dying.

Every part of her wanted to fight it but it was too late… things were too late for him. "I will always love you."

It couldn't have been just seconds after her last word that she felt his fingers gently brush her cheek once more before they slowly fell away. Those eyes hold onto her for as long as they could before they slid closed for the last time.

Every part of her wanted to scream that this wasn't real but it was.

He was gone now. And she was still here.

"Thank you." she whispered; carefully brushing aside the loose bangs that had fallen into his face. "For everything."

**A/N: Side note, this was also supposed to be the original ending for Scientific Method.**


	44. Two Roads

**XXXXIV.**

**Two Roads  
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They were two different people from two completely different worlds, two different dimensions; they were created in two different ways and carried on living with two diverse routines. He had his way of doing things and she had hers; he had his opinions and so did she.

It was like living at a permanent cross road; unsure about which way to take this time, or if they should repeat the same pattern again and again. But the results would be different each time or would they? That in itself was difficult to determine.

And yet, they both seemed to have convinced themselves that it wouldn't matter which road they took, which side of the crossroad was chosen… it would lead them to the same place; the same platform in which they had developed their own kind of world. It was unhealthy and risky to do, to pretend like everything around them wasn't happening- to pretend like this kind of thing was going to work. But, in the end, they were tired of reality.

Maybe they were both crazy.

Maybe they were both the insane ones.

Maybe…

But in the end, it was just the two of them.

In the end, whether they chose to walk down the right side or the left side or maybe decided to just stand in one spot, it was still the plural sense. It was 'them' and 'they' instead of just 'he' or 'she.' And that counted for something right?

And what if it didn't?

Hell, they were both probably too far lost to even bother with it.


	45. Illusion

**XXXXV.**

**Illusion**

"Why are we convincing ourselves that this is going to work?"

"Because we're both crazy."

His comment was paired with a light chuckle; hinted with a soft touch of sarcasm and almost a broken sense of truth. He wanted to ask himself the same question but it only brought on the same answers. _I don't know…_

_I don't know…_

Fingers held onto the curve of her hips as she watched him seemingly push her presence from his attention; the tip of one finger slowly traced the curve of his lower lip as he sank deeper and deeper into some dark pit in the back of his mind.

"Do you really believe that?"

Another short chuckle left him as he shook his head before fingers brushed aside those pink strands; those mismatched amber eyes looked to her for a moment. "For all I know, you're not even real; you're just some kind of hologram, some kind of mirage my insanity managed to produce and convince me of."

"The almost seems reasonable."

"I knew you would agree."

Pushing herself across the room, she paused just a few inches short in front of him; watching as he seemed to do little to acknowledge her. Fingers touched at the smooth leather of the chair arms and managed to find themselves locked against his slender wrists; somehow forcing him to keep the seat he had taken hours before.

"Do you really think I'm some kind of hallucination?"

Eyes followed the way her fingers seemed eager to take control over his wrists; allowing just enough pressure to remind him who here was really physically-able to be in charge. He took note of the slight forward lean of her body, giving off just a slight arch of her back and bringing in her midsection a bit; also slightly allowing for her breasts to fall just a tad bit forward- pushing the limit of her black kimono. It was hard not to want to believe that this was actually reality and yet, somewhere in the back of his mind, it felt like it was working out the visual projection; faking the image of the woman in front of him.

"Yes."

She didn't know what ultimately possessed her to suddenly challenge this take on her existence, but now it felt like the only thing she wanted to deal with. Leaning inward towards him, she felt just the soft curve of her lips brush against his own.

"What can I do to disprove that?"


	46. Family

**XXXXVI.**

**Family**

"Let's face it, we're both intelligent people here… but what do either of us know about raising a family? What do we really know about this kind of process? And how do we really avoid fucking everything up in the end?"

She watched the way he carefully walked around the perimeter of the room; the sleeping infant lightly cradled and tucked in his arms. The nearest clock pointed fingers at the numbers that hinted it was nearly two in the morning. Tired fingertips brushed aside her disheveled locks that she had been neglecting for some time now. "I don't think that answer is going to come to us that easily; in fact, I don't believe there really is a correct answer or even an answer at all. It's all a game of chance. Maybe we'll be able to work through this… maybe not. Although, if I have to make a comment… I think we've made a fairly good start on the right foot."

Slowly, he made his way back to where she had made herself comfort in one corner of the couch; her physical appearance and status still hinted at recovery from the recent birth. Her body was still trying to regain what had been lost during the nine month duration and struggled to reorder itself. The mix of Shinigami and Hollow genes hadn't been as disastrous as they originally thought but some of the symptoms continued to persist and linger. She, however, denied that it really even affected her and seemed to walk away from the problems; in times like these though… it was obvious to see how much of her strength had been drained.

"She's one of a kind, stuck somewhere between being both Shinigami and Hollow; there have been no recorded cases like this, which to be honest is not surprising in the least bit. There's no solid theory on what kind of power she's going to have or if one energy type dominates over the other one. We actually have to sit back and watch everything as it happens and cross off theories that did or didn't work."

She chuckled lightly and watched as he took to the empty space next to her; leaning over, she rested her head against his shoulder and looked at the small child in arm. "I know this is going to be difficult for you, but let's try to step back from the science side of this and just… try to run with instinct instead. Although, between the two of us, there really isn't a lot to go off of."

"So back to my previous questions…"

"We've managed to get this far… I think we'll be able to make it work."


	47. Creation

**XXXXVII.**

**Creation**

"I was created to be a perfect machine. I really had no other purpose aside from working; I had no reason to object to the studies I was put through or the amount of damage that my body was subjected to. There wasn't a single thought inside of me that assumed any of that was out of the ordinary. I was created to obey and nothing else. When given the order, I had no other choice but to follow through or risk severe punishment for disobeying. After awhile, you learn that when you're created from something small and meaningless… that kind of label stays with you. What did I know about anything outside of that? None of that mattered to me. I couldn't get results from going out shopping with the others; I didn't understand the concept of impressing someone of the opposite sex; I couldn't grasp the reasoning because I couldn't understand the purpose. It was meaningless… When you're a creation of something for the sole reason of a minor purpose, you don't realize how affecting it can be. When you're inside of that shell, everything's normal. But when that shell breaks, you find out how bad your entire world had been… and you wonder why you went through that; how did you manage to survive?"

There were those rare occasions when she let her guard down and allowed for him to catch a glimpse at the human side that so desperately wanted to get out. This was one of them. He had only encountered a mere handful of them but each one seemed more and more breaking than the last. One day, she was finally going to break that restraint that her past continued to hold on her. One day… she was going to win.

Carefully silencing the space between them, he brushed fingertips through her thick bangs. "You're all questions and no answers."

Her most common rare gesture moved at the corner of her lips and she let him enjoy the soft smile while it lasted. "I know you hate it when I say this but… you're just like him. You used to be anyways."

"So I finally did something that acquired your approval to change that statement?" he questioned lightly, although he was honestly thrilled that it finally changed. The last thing he wanted was to be compared to a man like that; he'd much rather be compared to the likes of Nnoitra or Grimmjow before that name came along.

"You made me realize that being a creation isn't all that bad; that even after everything I've gone through, there's still something to look forward to."


	48. Childhood

**XXXXVIII.**

**Childhood.**

"I read somewhere that what happened in your childhood will reflect the kind of attitude you have when you raise your own child." she started; almost half-mumbling as her weak wake-up from a multiple hour-long nap seemed to have affected her speech.

He tried not to say anything about how she had fallen asleep on his arm and how he could no longer feel his fingertips- it was tempting though. Instead, he almost chuckled sarcastically at her remark. "Where did you read that?"

She shrugged softly and shifted her body to press more into his own. "One of those books we got."

"Then the author must've been smoking something that day."

A soft chuckle left her as she moved her body once more, seeming as though she was never going to find a comfortable position. "It's still interesting to think on, at least give it that."

"If you think that's 'interesting' to think on… I'm not sure if I know you anymore." he remarked; somehow managing to earn himself a light hit to the chest. He wasn't entirely sure how the hell he deserved that but he decided not to question it. "Alright, so if we were to go off of this 'assumption' where does that leave us?"

"I don't know, it's not like either of us even had this so-called 'childhood' ourselves." she answered. "The moment I was created, it was solely for the use of working and manual labor. You… who knows."

"That sounds about right." he nodded. "Well from the sounds of it, I don't think we have much to worry about; although there is a very good chance she's going to grow up kind of fucked up… so we should brace ourselves for that."

A gentle shake of her head was followed by another chuckle as she slowly moved to push herself away from him. "Now I remember why I don't bring up conversation topics like this anymore." she remarked.

"I'm just trying to be realistic here."


	49. Stripes

**XXXXIX.**

**Stripes**

She loved the black stripes that marked the only color on his uniform. One ran straight down the middle of the uniform from the start of his neck all the way to the hemline; the other two split off about mid-chest and raced under his arms to connect at the back instead. There was really no concrete reason why she liked them so much… it was just one of those small, barely noticeable things that she enjoyed taking note of.

Sometimes fingertips liked to touch at that center stripe and follow it all the way down.

**X**

How did that saying go? Something about a tiger not being able to change his stripes?

He used to assume she was like that; never changing, only remaining as the same control, as the same body regardless of what had or might happen. She used to be so stoic and melancholic-like but yet… those stripes seemed to melt away. She was adapting and taking pleasure in this new environment.

It wasn't entirely suitable for her kind nor was it extremely impressive but she didn't seem to focus too long on the details. That was one of many things he enjoyed about her.

A tiger couldn't change his stripes but she sure as hell could.


	50. Breaking the Rules

**XXXXX.**

**Breaking the Rules**

"Hmmm…" He chuckled playfully between their lips as hers seemed far more interested in taking away his breath while he wanted to hold on to it a bit longer. But the delicate feel of her soft lips touching and caressing his own was more than overwhelming; the way they seemed to dance as she openly kissed him and allowed the simplest brush of her tongue to seek out his own. The unforgiving heat was more than enough to convince him to finally let go as he brought his tongue out against her own and leaned forward just enough to seal their lips together. There were no hands as they simply allowed only touch and taste to lead them further into this deep abyss of lust. But he wanted more than just her kiss; he wanted more than just her body; he wanted beyond that. His hands came up to tug at the pale, heavily-damped towel wrapped around her center body; pulling her forward, he felt her take advantage as she let her tongue invade him even deeper and stroke a moan from his throat. It wasn't long before she slowly removed herself and adjusted her lips to touch at the corner of his own.

"Control yourself, Kurotsuchi." he teased as he brought his hands up to tangle in her dark hair. "Some people would not appreciate this kind of… public display of affection from us."

"Since when have you ever cared about outside opinion?' she questioned as she placed her hands against the heating stones behind him; her body just lightly arching over his own.

"When they started trying to kill me." he replied.

"Just a minor setback." she spoke; bringing her lips back against his own for a moment. "It doesn't mean you have to stop the entire process."

"I love the way you think."

"Hmm… of course you do." He tugged playfully at her lips before he closed the space between them once more; his tongue ever so eager to meet and taste her own. Hands carefully worked at loosening the towel that seemed to crumble in his fingers just seconds after working on it. He tried not to seem to straightforward as his hands moved to cup her breasts; easily making a moan escape her lips. There was so much he had already seen and touched but that never stopped the overwhelming temptation to do it all again.

**A/N: Another snippet from another story I never got around to finishing or really even starting. I was aiming for some kind of detailed, making out in some hot springs but for the life of me, I have no clue why. Also, halfway through the 100 themes, didn't think I would make it this far. **


	51. Sport

**XXXXXI.**

**Sport**

"You should really try and pay attention to what you're doing."

"Oh, details, details."

She tried not to say anything else and focused solely on the damages she was trying to fix. Clean bandages turned blood-stained in just seconds of contact and made it difficult for her to keep the wound as sterilized as possible. He didn't seem to be put off by it though and just followed what she told him to do; although the hints were really quite useless as he already seemed to know exactly what to do instead. It was a mix as they both attempted to do the same job that could've been covered by just one of them but… unfortunately things just didn't go that way.

"Should I ask how this happened?" she questioned; her fingers already drenched in blood.

"Minor miscalculation in the heating system." he started. "The additional chemicals added to the starting mixture caused the liquids to heat up faster than I had predicted; needless to say, those glasses can actually withstand pressure up to a greater amount than previously thought. They will also, upon reaching critical pressure and imploding into a thousand pieces, have the force to sever three fingers from the starting knuckles."

"I've seen accidents where people had gotten themselves blown in half; various limbs taken off; or the most common one, just burned the inside lining of their lungs." she replied; tying the last of the bandages around his hand. "How long exactly is it going to take you to… replace those missing fingers?"

He leaned back in his chair and examined the rather bloodied mess of his right hand. "Give me by tonight and I'll have them back in working order. I suppose it's a good thing I'm ambidextrous so this doesn't set me back by much."

"You are a strange, strange man, you know that."

"Yes well, it's a sport."


	52. Deep In Thought

**XXXXXII.**

**Deep in Thought**

He watched her from the open doorway of the bedroom; watching as she tried to make herself somewhat comfortable in any position that still remained possible for her. She was always one of those odd sleepers who enjoyed resting on her back but of course now… that was a bit too much for her.

Her short kimono had been switched out for a longer-fitting uniform that would have an easier time covering her more rounded stomach now. She had merely toyed with wearing the matching set of pants that went with the elongated top; some days she did and other days she preferred to bare her legs instead. He didn't really care much for what her appearance was, as long as she was comfortable in whatever it was that she was wearing- which regardless of what it was, she still needed his assistance with it at times. It was a bit of frustration for the both of them considering he never seemed to control the fabric around her body as well as she would've liked him to.

She always made the remark that he was better at taking clothing off rather than putting it on.

He never made a comment in return.

It was a strange occurrence. He rarely counted himself as someone who would become protective of another; hell, he rarely even gave considerable thought to someone else. But she had changed that aspect; she had given him an exception to the rule. He could never really explain it, but just the thought of someone else being around her or even being with her… he couldn't handle it. If he couldn't be there to protect her…

And now, she gave him a second exception.

The dark mornings were always punctured by the soft groans that hinted at every small kick that abused the inside of her body. On some days, she could easily sleep through it and during other times, she had to get up in order to try and ease the conscious baby back to sleep. That method was rarely successful. As much as she insisted that she was fine, he forced himself to get up with her to at least keep company- an early start every now and then wasn't a bad choice either.

Although, it was quick to realize that neither of them seemed much like morning people.

Of course, the baby was though.

A soft groan pulled him from his thoughts as he watched her slowly shift her position once more. It took a few trial and errors before she managed to successfully push herself up into a sitting posture; one hand resting on the curve of her stomach. Her black locks were messy and disarranged; her shirt was pulled to one side and had managed to dislodge itself from one shoulder. The pale complexion of her skin showed that her body was still in the midst of trying to get over a recent but odd case of sickness, that would interrupt her mornings just the same as the baby kicking.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Not in the least bit."


	53. Keeping a Secret

**XXXXXIII.**

**Keeping A Secret**

"You know I can't keep doing this."

"Of course not, if you could, things wouldn't be as interesting."

She found herself completely defenseless against just the hint of his fingertips against her; the thought alone was enough to keep her coming back. It was a risk, one that was far too dangerous to try and chance… and yet, she continued to do so. She continued to keep coming back here, back to him; it was almost a habit now. There was a support system between them. She couldn't survive without that sense of meaning he brought to her; he couldn't live without the physical contact they shared.

She enjoyed that part just as much as he did though.

The rush of euphoria from just his hands pushing her into the mattress below sent her through a downward spiral that only reminded her of this risk. Fingers pushing their way through the silk-like material of her dress and into the bare skin underneath heightened every nerve ending in her body as her spine slowly fell victim to the numbing sensations.

How much longer was she going to run this risk just to satisfy this unknown need of hers?

How many times was she going to volunteer for an expedition to the human world just so she could curb her addiction to the way his lips tasted against her own?

How many times was she going to seemingly 'ditch out' on her own team just to be here? To be here so she could give in to this one selfish action.

Sometimes she wondered if she would ever admit to this kind of risk. She wondered how far she would go to avoid breaking this gamble. She couldn't keep disobeying and lying to her Captain about this… it was practically like betraying Soul Society itself to be seen with him. And yet, she couldn't stop. Did she really want that kind of mark? Did she really want to run that even greater danger and let it happen?

No… maybe yes.

Who was she trying to fool. No one could convince her otherwise to stop this. She was too far gone to stop, too far gone to even think about quitting. Just the thought of it alone was enough to send her into cold sweats; she was just that addicted.

Maybe it wasn't to just the physical act. No, she figured it out at this point.

It was just the thought of it that continued to bring her here. It was the risk. It was the secret. All of this, this was just hers, this was like her own little world that no one else could enter- just him. No one could tell her different; no one could tell her it was wrong, she already knew that much. But, she wasn't going to let him go.

She wasn't going to just… let this go. It was a secret that only two people knew.

A shuttered gasp left her as that risk flowed from his body and into hers.


	54. Tower

**XXXXXIV.**

**Tower**

"You can see everything from here, can't you?"

"Well, in terms of 'everything' you can see the ending boundary of Los Noches and beyond that is Hueco Mundo. If you look close enough, you can actually see the difference in the artificial sun and the real nighttime of the dimension."

She leaned partly out of the open, full-length window of the tower; catching the sharp boundary line that marked the two different areas off in the distance. It was an odd trait of the dimension to do so… to have an area that was ultimately polar opposite of the environment around it- much like as if it had been hand-picked and placed randomly. But the origin of this whole mess would reveal that it wasn't so much as a random event; everything about the place had a purpose for being where it was. Eyes turned to focus on the blurred horizon line off in the distance. "That over there… it looks like a dust storm."

He turned to see where she had been looking and it didn't take much to notice the blurred motions. "Yeah, they're frequent here; the desert is constantly in a state of motion so we have storms like that happening almost every day. They don't really happen all too close to Los Noches though."

"I'm sure it's one of those events where you see one, you see them all." she replied.

"It's quite true but there's always that nonsense of… significance and mystery about them." he shrugged as he leaned in against the open window for a moment; watching as the dust storm seemed fairly content with making its way across the desert at its usual, slow and even pace. "Not much to be interested in about them though, they are all quite the same."

She watched as the storm pushed its way along the horizon before a minor shift seemed to direct it more towards them. "This one seems to be… working its way towards us now."

"So it seems…"

"Perhaps we should head back inside now…"


	55. Waiting

**XXXXXV.**

**Waiting**

How long had she been delaying the news?

How long had she been holding it back from him?

To be honest, it wasn't too terribly hindering, so it wasn't exactly worsening with every day that passed by. It wasn't life or death, so no cause for worry. No need to be too terribly upset over the silence on the matter but still… there was a sense of needing to tell or needing for someone else to know. And yet, she let it pass by without changing either.

Each day only seemed to grow with more and more suspicion. She was certain it was just her own paranoia, her own mind playing those tricks with her. But… it was just nothing; just mind playing games on her when she didn't need them to.

He made one remark that she seemed to be acting strange but he never went back to it. Thankfully.

She was just waiting for the right time… that was all.

"Am I going to be an only child?"

The question pulled her from her thoughts as she looked down to the pink-haired child who tugged at the end of her dress. "Why do you ask that?"

"She's been asking that quite frequently." he remarked as he stepped around the table she had been working at until now. "I'm not entirely sure where she got the idea of it but I suppose it's just a part of her childish curiosity."

"Well… would you like a younger sibling then?" she questioned.

"Yes, when can I get one?"

"That might just be a matter in which your mother and I will have to discuss." he started; watching as the girl didn't seem the least bit happy with the answer. "But we'll take your opinion into consideration."

She waited a few seconds before she glanced back to him. "Well… there may be a bit more that we'll have to take into consideration."


	56. Danger Ahead

**XXXXXVI.**

**Danger Ahead**

"This isn't going to be the easiest transition… I assume you know that, right?"

"Well now, we would be blind to everything outside of our world if we both weren't aware of that." she started; fingers pushing through her hair as she pulled each lock away from her face. "If we weren't aware of the sheer dislike and inability to accept differences from our peers… there would be no need to sneak around and talk like this. We wouldn't have to avoid so many things that normally would've been a mere bypass to us."

He watched as she carefully began the slow process of stylizing her hair, which she always did around this time. Fingers making sure each lock was held tight as they were folded over and under one another to create the perfect criss-crossed pattern that would soon bounce along her lower back. "To be honest, I never imagined getting caught up in a scenario like this but… I can't say there's been a second of it I regret. Well… perhaps that one time we almost got caught but even then, it was kind of fun."

"Because you wouldn't have been the one killed if caught in it." she reminded.

"Oh? Is that so?"

Shaking her head lightly, she turned back to where he was reclined in the bed behind her. "Let's try to not push my Captain's limits, alright? I have a fear he's beginning to catch on."

"Then stay here and be my 'prisoner.'" he offered lightly.

"How about no."

A mild chuckle escaped him as he pushed his hair from his face before he lifted himself up to be next to her. "Alright, I'll see to it that we're more… observant next time, I promise."

"It's not so much as being 'observant' as it is being 'quiet.' Or at least for you."

"Watch where you put your hands next time."

She sighed lightly before she leaned over and brought her lips to press against his forehead; fingers lightly tangled in his hair. "Why do we enjoy putting ourselves into dangerous situations?"

"Well now, where's the fun in safety?"


	57. Sacrifice

**XXXXXVII.**

**Sacrifice**

For once, the rush of blood through his fingers was almost sickening; the stain of it against his gloves and the spread of it across his uniform was undesirable revolting.

Her right side was separated as a three inch split cut underneath her ribcage and tore all the way to her back; leaving the tissue and muscle in between to be severed as well. Every heavy pant that left her lips seemed to shake her entire body as it was cradled in his arms. Every beat of her heart seemed to force more blood from the injury. In reality, it wasn't all too serious. It struck just below the ribcage and managed to miss striking important organs- at most it might've clipped the outside of her intestine but that was highly unlikely. It was only tissue and muscular damage at most… something that would be easy to repair with one or two surgeries, maybe some experimental medicines from the lab.

That wasn't what worried him.

That wasn't what worried her either.

"Is Akira okay?" she whispered as fingers lightly fell over the open wound.

"Yeah, she's… she's in one of the panic rooms playing." he started.

She nodded with his answer and looked down at the blood that now stained her hand. "It's not bad… it's only a flesh wound… shouldn't be too difficult to heal."

"That's not entirely my top worry… but yes, it should be relatively easy to fix- your body is probably already sealing up the damages."

"It's okay… it's not traumatizing enough to do much." she tried to assure.

The ambush did exactly what it was meant to do and caught them off-guard. He hadn't been present when it first occurred but the quick news had been enough to stir a fire as he rushed back as soon as he could. She had managed to deflect much of the attackers who had gotten in her way; he had a suspicion that her 'motherly instinct' had provoked her to initially wipe out every single attacker who stood between her and Akira- regardless of lingering consequences. He had taken out those who were left over but… he hadn't arrived fast enough to prevent the injury that allowed her to bleed out now.

Her hand moved to lightly rest on the faint bump of her stomach. "… He'll be okay."


	58. Kick in the Head

**XXXXXVIII.**

**Kick in the Head**

"Can you feel it?"

He glanced back at the question and watched as she seemed amused by something that he didn't quite catch at the moment. "… Depending…"

"You didn't feel it."

Hmm… so she noticed, better think of something else… "Okay, no, you caught me. What exactly was I supposed to feel from this distance? And without the use of my hands?"

She shook her head lightly at him and took a few more steps in his direction. "I was just testing how well your observation skills were. I suppose the energy wouldn't be as noticeable or radiant with you as it was with me… then again, I suppose that would've been obvious from the start."

A soft, mild frown came to him as he set aside what he had been working on and turned around to face her; his eyes just lightly drawn to the growing bump of her stomach. "Well, you've already peaked my interest, so you might as well fill me in on what you were talking about."

"It would be easier to explain without words." she replied as she walked towards him. Her hands grabbed for his own and set them against her stomach; it took a few moments before she felt the constant movement inside of her stir up once more. "Now, just pay attention very carefully… it's very faint but it's there."

He didn't know entirely what she was telling him to do but decided it was worth a shot to do as she said anyways. He felt her own energy radiate for a moment before what seemed like a third set rushed outward. It was like what she said and was incredibly faint but still noticeable at a close distance. "Even at this stage, it's energy is already settling in."

"I was amazed with it myself." she started. "But did you notice what kind of energy it had?"

"… I can't say it was entirely at the top of my list…"

She seemed to chuckle lightly at his expense. "I'll give you a hint, there's a reason it reacted so well to my energy."


	59. No Way Out

**XXXXXIX.**

**No Way Out**

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Isane sighed as she heard the woman blatantly deny everything she had just said _despite _the fact that her face was clearly flushed from the accusation. Well now, 'accusation' was a harsh word to use. "Oh come on Nemu, you can tell me anything." she watched as the woman refused to even look at her now. "Look, I was over at Division Eleven's house and I just happened to be outside and I-"

"Just happened to be looking through my window."

"At. I was looking _at _your window." Isane corrected. "Now come on, you know all about Yumichika and I, and I just think it's fair that you tell me who you're apparently 'window rubbing' with." she watched as the woman blushed even further and yet her facial expression never changed, in fact she didn't even stop collecting the mail for Division Twelve. She rolled her eyes lightly and crossed her arms. "You can trust me with anything. I mean, Captain Mayuri's not even here so it's not like he's going to find out. Although I'm sure even if he was here you probably won't have been with whoever it was all night yesterday." that didn't help her cause at all. "Is that it? It's because Captain Mayuri doesn't know right?"

"Uh... yeah, yeah we'll go with that." Nemu answered; collecting the rest of the mail before she stacked them neatly together. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go now." with that, she turned easily on one heel and headed out of the building.

"You're not getting off that easily!" Isane called after her; easily giving light chase with the woman. She followed her out into the narrowed fields that separated each Division House; taking up step next to the woman. "I think I'll go out on a limb here and suggest that not only does Captain Mayuri not know about it, no one in this city knows about it, including myself, and you're the only one who knows, right?" it took a few moments before the woman eventually nodded but she didn't turn an eye towards her the least bit. "Well all I have to do is go around to each Division, ask some questions and maybe lead myself out into the city to pick up on some hints, maybe I'll ask the people in the medical bay if they've heard anything-"

"He's not from here." she interrupted quickly; keeping the mail tightly pressed against her chest.

"What? Well where the hell is he from then?" Isane questioned. "I highly doubt he's a human because a Shinigami man can barely handle you. What is he? Some kind of Hollow or-" she stopped when she felt the woman grab her arm and pull her slightly off to the side.

"The reason I can't tell you... is because I... he's not Shinigami and he's not human."

"Well that only leaves... Hollow..." Isane started; drifting off slightly.

"Espada if you want to be closely accurate."


	60. Rejection

**XXXXXX**

**Rejection**

"Do you ever worry?"

"About what and why should I?"

She looked back to him at the question; noticing that he seemed to hold this expression that questioned why she was looking at him in such a manner. Sometimes, talking to him was like pulling teeth but he never seemed to realize that at all. "Do you think society will reject her?"

"Oh, you know you should really try to specify what you're talking about." he started; stopping only when he caught her eye once more. "As for 'rejection' that's a bit of a strong word and would be an equally strong reaction. Now, I would imagine there would be doubt, denial, confusion and questioning over the whole situation but rejection… not entirely; not to rule it completely out though, there's still a good possibility of it. But, to be quite honest, if she carries thick skin and a mindset that reflects attributes from the two of us, I highly doubt rejection will bother her; in fact, she may find it intriguing and use it to her advantage."

"How so?"

"She'll probably find someone who annoys her and use this 'rejected' status to return the feelings." he shrugged. "If not, well then the status of 'rejection' would give her time to do as she pleases- seeing as no one would bother to deal with her; this would give her plenty of opportunities to expand on her own power and test their limits. As far as either of us know… she's ultimately limitless even though her dominant energy reads like that of a Hollow; she's not full blood though so there would still need to be a lot of testing on whether or not she could achieve the highest power range of a Hollow."

She turned her attention back to the pink-haired girl who seemed to busy herself with a multitude of strange objects she had gathered from the nearby rooms; despite her young age, her intelligence had surpassed that of the normal readings and she had showed signs of increased critical thinking levels. However, much like any other small child, she still found herself distracted by the simplest of objects. "Do you think she'll be able to? I always assumed your Resurrection forms converted you back to your most powerful state of being but that you would've had to work your way through the steps of becoming an Arrancar in order to do so. She's completely skipped those steps…"

"That's the fun part." he replied as he went back to his work of flipping through the pages and pages of formulas to correct a small portion of one. "Sitting back and waiting to see what happens next; maybe if we piss her off enough she'll give us some kind of sign."

"Well that should be easy; she is your daughter."


	61. Fairy Tale

**XXXXXXI.**

**Fairy Tale**

"Do you ever get the feeling this doesn't seem real?"

"Not really."

She glanced over to where he seemed more interested in the book at hand than their conversation; it seemed only reasonable to think that he wasn't entirely even sure of what she had asked in the first place. But, he always had this knack of showing disinterest and yet memorizing every word. "Is that so?"

"I don't believe in fairy tales." he remarked before fingers pushed the book closed and tossed it aside. "And I certainly don't believe in fabricated stories brought to the point of realism that they blur the line between fiction and reality. You know… you've been asking some really strange questions lately. I'm beginning to wonder if you can't just be happy with what you have."

"Do you mean by with answers or with materialistic items?"

One hand moved to run through his hair before he reached over and lightly tugged at a long strand of hers that hung down the curve of her face. "There you go with the questions again."

She humored him this time as she slowly leaned back against the other end of the couch beneath them; bringing her legs up to rest in his lap. "You know, for a Scientist yourself… you should know what it's like to obey the need of questioning. I'm quite surprised that you suddenly seem like the enemy of it now."

"That's not to say that questioning and I are on bad terms; I just believe there are some instances where it should be off limits." he started; trying to explain the loose concept that had tied itself together in his head. "Certain times and topics are appropriate but there are others that could go without a question mark or two."

"… Is that because you're afraid of what the answer might be?"

"See? Yet another question that I-…"

She took note of his sudden trail; watching as he seemed to switch his gaze to the floor now… looking as though he was trying to remember where he had been going with the statement. "Is that a yes then?"


	62. Magic

**XXXXXXII.**

**Magic  
><strong>

"And just what kind of sorcery is this?"

She glanced up at the question before she let her attention drift back to the newborn who was rested promptly against the flat of her sternum. "Well, this is essentially a small offspring of a human being, scientifically. There's really no kind of 'sorcery' in it to be exact."

The silver-haired woman rolled her eyes somewhat playfully. "Really? We have to play this game?"

"What game?"

"Girl, you better be messing with us." Matsumoto started as she pushed Isane out of the doorway.

"Oh, give her a break, she just had a baby." Momo called after her.

Isane shook her head and walked over to where the woman was preoccupied with trying to readjust the young child against her chest. "Forget it, but do tell me who this cute, little girl is."

"Well… it took me awhile to decide on a name but… I finally decided on Akira."

"Well at least it's a beautiful name."

"Matsumoto!"

She looked down as a soft noise seemed to emit from the infant as she snuggled herself closer to her; bundling fingers in the soft material of her shirt. She supposed the voices were kind of upsetting the child but they were calming themselves easily. "I believe she's going to look a lot like her father."


	63. Do Not Disturb

**XXXXXXIII.**

**Do Not Disturb**

It was a little white sign that hung from the gold doorknob that belonged to the hotel.

Despite how small it was, it seemed to hold enough power to deflect anyone who walked by; any hotel employee or personnel who had thought to knock on the door, but upon noticing the sign, walked away instead.

At first it had simply been put there for curiosity and then it was just for the sheer want of some peace and quiet. Of course, somehow, someway it seemed to turn into something a bit more… inappropriate for its usage. Then again, maybe that was its main purpose in the first place.

There was an addiction to the way her fingertips slowly trailed themselves along his jawline; lightly curling against his flesh as she coaxed him down towards her. The curve of her lips touched at the corner of his own as she seemed to be slowly pushing the instigation of the sign implication.

"You always say how much you dislike and hate the human world… and yet, we always make plans to meet here." she whispered as the curve of her leg slowly pressed itself against his waist and folded over his back. "Why is that?"

"I dislike it because it's boring and rather unchanging all the time." he replied as his hands moved to undress that black shirt that had once fitted her body. "Fortunately enough, that gives us plenty of quiet time and… lowers the chances and probability of us running into someone else that we know; someone who could… ruin this quiet time of ours."

She felt him turn enough to catch her lips completely but he kept the motion light and as just a simple brush instead. "I see… I suppose that makes for an interesting point."

"Don't get me wrong, while the possible threat and worry of running into a familiar face is sometimes exhilarating… I believe we've had enough close calls to last us for quite an extended period of time. I think we owe it to ourselves to deserve a secured time like this."

"True indeed."


	64. Multitasking

**XXXXXXIV.**

**Multitasking**

He was never really up for trying to find balance in doing different things at once; it was more of a mental thing for him as he switched constantly between things that needed to be done, things that had yet to be finished, things that were to go on his next list. Physically, he was focused on completely one thing at a time, but mentally he was all over the place.

She was almost the complete opposite of that.

She was able to juggle herself between different activities, whether it was running two experiments side by side or moving things around while keeping herself interested in a book. Sometimes it seemed like she really only had a one-track mind, perhaps simply because that was how she was created as; but he was certain that it was a far more complicated method to balance between different physical activities while maintaining a single mentality through it.

It was really quite entertaining to watch though.

She saw it as more of a useful spend of time to run several things at once and keep an eye on all of them. He thought it was more safer to run one so that all of his attention was held on that single event; there wouldn't be a trace of it that didn't go without notice.

It was just another one of their simple arguments though. One that was simple enough for the both of them.


	65. Horror

**XXXXXXV.**

**Horror**

She remembered how he used to absolutely frighten her.

She was made without emotions and yet… he was still able to bestow that kind of… fear inside of her; one that nearly made her heart collapse in on itself inside of her chest.

The feeling had passed through their spent time together, sometimes she forgot entirely about it. After all, that fear only resided in that image of his true power; in that flashback image of his former shell, his former body, the creature that made him who he was today; sculpting out his body and personality. As long as he remained in this 'human' form, there was no need for such fear. It was a rare, almost never present event when he would shift from one shape and into another with no hesitation.

All it took was one word.

One source of power.

And that fear returned.

There was really no need to be afraid of it anymore… he swore that this form would never be used against her again; there was no need for it to be, she was on his side now. But that didn't stop the feelings; that didn't stop the memories of the heat-wrenching pain that tore her body from the inside out. At the time of its usage, it had been needed; there was no way of getting around it. Things were different since then. It had been many years and they both simply tried to overlook the event that connected their bodies into one.

It was difficult to do but… she had managed to let it go.

There was no need to fear him as a person.

But him as an animal was horrifying.


	66. Traps

**XXXXXXVI.**

**Traps**

"What's with your fascination in these… traps? These devilish devices you enjoy setting up so much?"

Her question came lightly and more out of curiosity than anything else. He felt the way she lightly pressed her weight against the back of his chair as he remained seated to observe the surveillance tapes in front of him; each one depicting a different area, a different room, a different angle. It gave him a complete view of everything. Well, almost everything.

"Because I like to think that they help show the different reactions in the human brain. You can witness physical panic and mayhem as these victims practically give themselves heart attacks over minor obstacles. Their overall brain function seems to fail and they resort to… well animalistic stupidity." he answered. "You can see how desperate they get to escape. You can see how far they'll go to get out. It's really quite fascinating."

"When you overlook the fact that these traps are more like torture, correct?"

"That's my favorite part."

She let her arms fall to his shoulders before she lightly hooked her hands underneath his chin and tilted his head back. "You really are quite the 'monster' they identify you as."

"Well I would hate to lie to them; I might as well make an honest man of myself."

"That's an interesting take on it, I suppose."


	67. Hero

**XXXXXXVIII.**

**Hero**

"You know I can defend myself, right?"

He merely rolled his eyes at her words as he pushed himself up from the ground; from where he had previously protected her from the massive Cero that had tore its way through the building. Where it came from, he wasn't entirely sure but it was certain that it wasn't a good thing. Whoever had shot it off meant business; he almost pitied the person it was aimed at. "Yes well then I'll keep note of that the next time something like this goes through."

She picked up on the near bitter sarcasm of his voice but took up on the hand that he offered to her; allowing for him to help her to her feet. Eyes turned to examine the damages that had been created as she carefully dusted herself free. "I don't entirely recognize the energy… do you?"

"No, not entirely… it feels familiar though; I'm sure it's someone in this building who just got their energy in a knot." he muttered as he ruffled up his hair before he turned to survey the damages himself. "Well, whoever it was, I'm going to have to talk to them about that wall- or what's left of it. As if I haven't had to replace enough of them already as of recently."

She turned her attention to the scorches that raced down his back; burning part of his uniform and leaving minor burns in its path. "You're hurt…"

"Hm? Oh, no they're barely mentionable. They'll heal in a day or two." he replied; shrugging off the injuries. "The structural damages on the other hand-"

She grabbed lightly at his arm and turned him back around to her. "You know, the only reason I dislike how you defend me is because you always manage to get hurt in the end, and that's something I hate more."


	68. Playing the Melody

**XXXXXXVII.**

**Playing the Melody**

The soft cries of the tiny infant brought him clean out of sleep and into a short moment of panic; it was only temporary by a few seconds but still enough to partly annoy him- ever since the child was born, it felt like every nerve was on end and short-circuited. It was almost odd to realize just how much could change with the smallest addition. Carefully pushing himself from the bed, he made sure to minimize any sound that could've transpired from slowly walking through the room over to her crib.

Her volume dropped as soon as his hands carefully wrapped themselves around her tiny body and slowly lifted her away from her partly kicked aside blanket. She barely weighed anything in his hands as he gently cradled her against his right shoulder; one hand primarily holding her as he quietly made his way to the bedroom door before he slipped out into the equally silent corridor nestled just outside.

"Shh… it's okay." he whispered as her subtle cries persisted still. He could feel the way her tiny hands were curled against his collarbones and the way her head was neatly tucked against the curve of his neck. "Akira… Akira, there's nothing here that can harm you." he continued as he moved to cradle her with both hands now. The sound of his voice seemed to calm her down even more as her voice dropped down yet another quiet octave. "There you go…"

Stepping out of the slender corridor, fingertips reached out blindly along the open wall before they brushed against the light switch and flipped them on. Almost immediately, her green eyes looked up and seemed to be drawn to anything and everything at once; her previous problems apparently forgotten. Moving through the different rooms, he noted that she seemed to take her own time to observe the environment around her; taking greater joy in watching the dim lights reflect off of colorful surfaces. During the day, these rooms were really no place for a child, but… sometimes during events like this, it didn't seem as dangerous; whatever made her happy was acceptable. He continued on through the large facility before he carefully pushed aside a single door that almost appeared to be out of place in the massive building.

A rush of the cool night breeze seemed to welcome them as he carefully stepped out into the midnight desert. For some odd reason, the girl always seemed to be intrigued by the desert environment and like clockwork, she was literally soundless during the visit.

"And to think, one day you'll be able to leave this place." he started; watching as another faint breeze carefully lifted what seemed to be a wave of sand before transporting it to another location. It was like the wind was trying to relocate and rebuild the multitude of sand dunes around them; never satisfied with their placement now. He glanced down for a moment to notice those green eyes as they watched his every move. "But… seeing as you can't even support your own head right now, I don't think we'll have to worry about that any time soon."

**A/N: Accidentally uploaded the wrong one yesterday. It was supposed to go Playing the Melody and then Hero, I'll correct this mistake later.**


	69. Annoyance

**XXXXXXIX.**

**Annoyance**

It was always in that light curve on the corner of his lips that traced downward.

In the slight dip of his eyelids that narrowed his vision momentarily.

The just slightest stiffness that coursed through his body.

More often than not, it was also the sarcastic bitterness in the tone of his words and in his voice.

She always found the combination of all of the characteristics amusing and their sometimes constant presence only seemed to enlighten that. However, the features seemed to deepen when he noticed her enjoyment in them- which only seemed to help her case really. Still though, there was an appeal in them and she couldn't exactly explain why.

And the look could appear for a number of reasons, mostly caused by members of his own species walking in and out of his facility as they pleased. Any kind of unannounced and uninvited intruder always walked on his nerves and it was easy to tell when he had encountered far too many of them in one day.

She liked to remind him that that was exactly how they met.

She was an intruder once on his territory.

He always defended that that time had been different. And to be quite frank… he hadn't entirely been annoyed at her presence either. He said that he rather enjoyed the presence of a female on the field- but she had a different story than his.

Regardless of the situation, given or not, she still found herself amused by the look even without knowing how it had gotten there or who had provoked it this time.


	70. 67 Percent

**XXXXXXX.**

**67% percent**

She had watched and waited for him to break away from his work, even for just a minute or two before she brought herself to approach him. "May I ask you something?" she started; catching him in the midst of a stretch as he walked away from the massive computer screen behind him.

"Depending…" he replied as one hand brushed aside his pink strands.

"Have you ever considered carrying out a partnered biological experiment?"

He narrowed his eyes slightly at her question as though giving it both thought and wondering what the hell she meant. "That depends as well, what kind of biological experimentation are you talking about?"

Yes, of course, not enough details in the first question- just as she had planned. "Well, one that would lean in more towards the reproductive stages between two entirely different biological subjects."

"You don't think we haven't experimented with that enough-"

"One that would go through the successful stages of reproduction, in which… an offspring would be the result."

There was the key word.

That one simple word seemed to wipe the working exhaustion from his expression; leaving it almost leaning towards being stunned before it was replaced with another more… slightly accepting look. "I… can't say that that thought hasn't crossed me before but… the genetic coding and such that would have to go into it would need more research; there would have to be formulas and calculations to do- observations and predictions to make. There's a massive jump between our genetic stands and even overall biological structures, there's no telling what would happen.."

"What if we had the chance to? What if we had… the chance to see what could happen?"

"There could be a sense of endless possibilities to observe… wait, where are you doing with this?" he started to question before it appeared as though the overall point of the conversation finally dawned on him. "Tell me, is this a proposed experiment or… an ongoing one?"

"It depends."

"On what?"

"On being only sixty-seven percent positive."


	71. Obsession

**XXXXXXXI.**

**Obsession**

"People used to say that I was infatuated and possessed by the works of Science; that I was borderline dangerously obsessed with it. I suppose I really had nothing to defend myself with, even I will be the first to admit that fault. But… again, when I look back on it and look towards the future of it… I suppose it does borderline, unhealthy possessiveness. It's really quite meaningless to dwell on, because the answer's already there, but regardless there's an appeal in reviewing it again and again. There's a sense of thrill in having science in the withering grasp of your hands and beating it till it gives you an answer; or treating it well enough for submission."

She listened for his words before she reached across the stainless steel top and lightly grasped his hands with her own. "… Do you only say that because Science lead to my creation or am I merely being selfish in the matter?"

He caught the minor glimpse of her eyes in the reflection of his own. "Actually, in this case, I might be the selfish one because that… is partly true."

"Only partly?"

"Well I wasn't going to give you the power of this conversation but it's all merely true I suppose."

Carefully pulling his hands closer to her, she pressed them against her cheeks and slid her fingers between his own. "As far as I was concerned, Science created me and granted me my only purpose but now… now it's different. And there are no regrets."

"You've been my obsession from the start…"


	72. Mischief Managed

**XXXXXXXII.**

**Mischief Managed**

"Thank the Gods."

A light chuckle escaped him at the barely audible words that were whispered from her lips. That seemed to be a suitable reaction seeing as he matched her same sense of relief. The utter collapse of the pink-haired child meant that they could at least enjoy a few hours of perfect silence and shared solitude. After spending a majority of the day getting into anything and everything in reach, her moment of sheer fatigue outweighed her restlessness and endless energy.

He carefully held the child and watched as she subconsciously moved about to find a more comfortable pose in his arms. "At least it's finally over."

"For now." she reminded.

"Let's at least try to savor the moment."

She took note of how, in physical comparison, the two were matched up in almost every category; she knew well that once the child grew up, she would be near identical to her father. The only exception being the green eyes, which was one of few things she took from her instead. Still, the child seemed to share a tendency for hyperactivity, but that was more than likely just a stage; she was still young, four years right now, so she still had some time to enjoy that… energy.

She slowly walked over towards him as she carefully tended to her own extra load. The small, blonde-haired child was rested promptly against her with hands lightly tangled in the loose material of her uniform. He wasn't as active as his sister, which was a good thing, but the two tended to try and give the other one a run for their money. Fingers lightly parted the heavy bangs that fell in front of him while smiling at the soft expression of sleep on his face. She still laughed at the coincidence of the second child; their son didn't resemble either of them and instead seemed to borrow features… from his brother instead. She remembered how displeased he seemed at the discovery but had set the frustration aside for the time being; she was always there to remind him that he still carried a feature that was familiar to the both of them.

He had amber eyes to match his father.


	73. I Can't

**XXXXXXXIII.**

**I Can't**

"Do it."

The two words were bare whispers as she looked up at the pain-riddled figure above her; his form was arched over her own to protect her from any continuing attacks. It explained the heavy droplets of blood that escaped every single wound and splashed out around her.

His breath came out in uneven, labored pants that gasped out from bloodied, bruised lips. He had to hold back the urge to vomit, despite the metallic-taste that burned at the back of his mouth and flooded his throat. It felt like every blood vessel had been busted beneath his skin and flooded out to stain the flesh into shades of purple and black. His back felt as though it had been skinned completely as blood ran like acid against the raw upturn of muscles and nerves that were left openly exposed by the constant batter of attacks that he took one after the other without stop. But… being able to see that the only injuries she had were minor and nonfatal… it was worth the pain.

"I can't…"

"Nothing's stopping you." she started.

"I am." he replied; wincing as the rush of blood threatened to leave his throat raw once more.

Her eyes narrowed slightly at his words. "Why?"

"You think I'm going to be irritated by these inferior beings and let them force me to fight them at full strength?" he chuckled weakly as an attempt to bypass the look in her eyes; watching as she seemed the least bit amused by it. "I've had my fair share of bad jokes, I'm not letting this become one."

"I'm not letting Akira grow up without her father."

The thought of the small, pink-haired child having to live on past this point with or without the both of them was painful to think about… The thought of never seeing his daughter again was even more gripping to think on. And as much of a weakness it seemed to reveal, he couldn't let either of those happen.

"If you won't do it for yourself, at least do it for her… and me."

"I just… I can't be certain on what's going to happen afterwards; I can't be certain that I won't lose myself. It terrifies you…"

She couldn't stop the rush of adrenaline that emerged at just the thought of that form re-emerging again; she had fought so hard to forget about it and yet… here she was encouraging it. "I'll be fine. We'll just figure out what happens when it happens."

**A/N: Just a little drabble I had done when I had been curious about doing a Scientific Method sequel. **


	74. Are You Challenging Me?

**XXXXXXXIV.**

**Are You Challenging Me?**

"I would appreciate if my lack of respect and overall thoughts of your stupidity were taken into consideration in this event. Although perhaps that is too nice of a remark to make of this situation, I believe it's only the smartest choice; at least then, I'm not seen as the aggressive one. I'm not the one putting myself into the situation of being blinded by rage. I'm not the one making a fool of myself. Perhaps when given the chance to pull your head from your ass… you'll come to understand that."

**X**

The place seemed oddly quite and… ill-fitting without him around. She wasn't one entirely for worrying or anything of that sort but now… something about it seemed to be drifting itself up through her chest. For the most part, she pushed it aside and busied herself with other things; she had a lot to do anyways but seemed fairly content with sitting on the far end of the white-leather couch. No matter how much thinking she put into the multitude of things that had to be done… she couldn't exactly bring herself to do any of it.

She just… she had to find out if there was anything going on, if there was a reason to be feeling so 'worried.' Hopefully not, but it was still worth taking into consideration.

"Momma?"

She looked up as the soft call pulled her from her thoughts and directed her to the small girl who tugged softly at the hem of her kimono; matching green eyes stared back at her for the moment. "What is it, Akira?"

"Where's dad?"

"That's a good question."

"That's not a very good answer."

She caught herself in the midst of a soft chuckle before she leaned forward and pulled the girl up onto the couch with her. "He's just solving problems like he always does. You know how he works."

"But why?"

Even despite the young girl's advance intelligence, the answer itself would've been too complicated for her to grasp. After all, there wasn't an easier way of saying that there were a lot of people who would've much rather not see this occur; there were a lot of people who would've wished that she never existed; there was too much evidence that this kind of… partnership or 'relationship' could last that people just wanted to ignore but couldn't get to go away.

"Sometimes there are certain problems that only your father can solve."


	75. Mirror

**XXXXXXXV.**

**Mirror**

It was fairly amazing what a small piece of reflecting surface could say or show to a person.

It always pointed out all the flaws. All the skin blemishes, all the scars, the never perfectly-stylized hair and the uninteresting color of eyes; it pointed out areas that weren't attractive, where weight could be taken off and where a little more muscle tone could take place. It wasn't always a happy surface to look into. But she had made the most of it.

Until now anyways.

It still pointed out all the same from before… the only thing that changed was that she no longer dwelled on the matters- not to say that she really did much before. So maybe her skin was a little paler now, and maybe the slight darkness in her eyes said that sleep was not always a willing companion; there were some minor stretch marks here and there, a few new scars that had yet to fade away just yet. But she was beginning to find comfort in the disheveled black locks, and in the less than perfect body.

Warm arms wrapped themselves around her body as an equally warm set of lips pressed into the curve of the back of one shoulder.

"You know the image in the mirror is never as beautiful as the person it's trying to mimic."


	76. Broken Pieces

**XXXXXXXVI.**

**Broken Pieces**

She was a puzzle.

A worn out, tired puzzle whose pieces had been misplaced, damaged, broken, and sometimes just lost. Each and every tiny piece had their own set of scars, their own set of stories and their own collection of memories. Each piece fell back on one another and helped to slowly stitch together the image she was made to portray.

Sometimes, these puzzle pieces seemed handcrafted and cared for by special means but they came together to create an artificial being. She was made for a reason but then treated as though she didn't have a purpose.

He was the last person to criticize that- hell if he had thought of it, he would've done the same… but she made this different; she made his view on it different.

Shit, this wasn't supposed to happen.

Things fell apart, people picked up the pieces and carried on as best they could- hell they lived in a world where that felt as though it was the motto. But she… some pieces couldn't be picked up; some pieces broke upon contact; and some pieces couldn't be found. There wasn't a single part of her that felt as though it was complete.

The emptiness was healing though.

She was slowly coming back together; disregarding the pieces too abused to be reused and replacing them with newer ones. They weren't crafted from the same hands but… maybe they were made from better ones…

"What are you thinking about?" she whispered; her arms lightly draping themselves over his shoulders as her body rested on top of his own.

Fingers brushed aside the black strands that had fallen into her face and tucked them away. "Nothing. Nothing at all."


	77. Test

**XXXXXXXVII.**

**Test**

His whole body felt like it was on fire as he allowed himself to collapse back into the welcoming chair behind him. A tired sigh of relief left his pale lips as he leaned back against the stiff cushion and carefully worked on rubbing the headache out from behind his temples. There was nothing quite like a little confrontation to completely ruin his day.

"I think the uniform looks good on you."

He glanced up at the comment and chuckled quietly as he took note of her form standing in the doorway across from him. "Do not test my patience right now. To be honest, this whole thing feels… a bit demeaning in a sense."

"Really now?" she questioned as she pushed herself off the doorframe and walked towards him. "Because I didn't have a problem wearing your uniforms."

Fingers moved to lightly massage the empty space between his eyes before he looked up once more as her hands came down to rest on the arm of the chair; her body just slightly leaned in towards him. "Well… then I'd hate to admit it but you look horrible in white."

"Black's not too fitting on you either." she replied lightly as she dipped forward just enough to press her lips against his forehead. "I know it wasn't easy to sit there and take those hits like that, but I think you made the right choice in doing so."

"Yes well, you can tell my bruises, slightly ruptured kidney and four of my broken fingers that. And I'm sure other slightly unnecessary health issues." he commented as he leaned back enough to catch her lips when she dipped lower. "But then again, the only thing I hate more than physical combat is when people choose to test me on an already solved matter. Such immaturity and stupidity over the whole thing."

"The people here are far different."

"Yes but I suspect they're all the same on the inside, and should one choose to push my limit once more, I will make a note to explore that."

**A/N: Just another sample piece I had scribbled down in case I ever got around to doing a Scientific Method sequel. **


	78. Drink

**XXXXXXXVIII.**

**Drink**

The light rapping of knuckles against the front door just barely caught his attention as his bourbon glass balanced carefully against his lower lip; frozen momentarily before he slowly set it aside. Pushing himself off the extravagant, white-leather couch, he made his way out of the largely open sitting area and walked towards the rather gloomily-looking front door; the white chandelier about ten to fifteen feet overhead was the only thing on to light up the wide entrance hall. Small shadows were cast aside as the faint light failed to catch the space behind every nook-and-cranny. He ruffled up his pink strands and ran a light hand through them; it was late at night but that didn't mean he had to answer the door looking like a drunk. Adjusting his slightly disheveled black vest, he turned his attention back to the front door as he carefully unlocked it and pulled it open.

A pair of discontent green eyes met his own in a moment of pure silence; had he had a heart, the contact would've been strong enough to stop it dead. His fingers dug slightly into the door as he watched those seemingly soulless eyes never once move away from his own. It felt like she had some kind of physical hold on him despite the lack of touch between them.

"Miss. Kurotsuchi..." he started; unsure of where he was really going with that sentence. "I... suppose it would be a lie to say that this isn't a lovely surprise."

Those eyes broke away from his own slightly as she nervously clamped her hands together in front of her. "Yes, I do suppose it does seem... odd. I was driving around for a bit and... somehow ended up in this neighborhood, so I thought I'd drop by and... -"

She didn't finish her sentence, then again with her lips suddenly against his own it would be hard to complete the thought.

**A/N: A brief snippet of another story I had once planned to do; it was an AU but still kind of a fun thought. **


	79. Starvation

**XXXXXXXIX.**

**Starvation **

At first, it had merely been him.

Stuck somewhere lost in the tangles of his mind in that ever turning need for knowing; in that ever turning need to grasp every spec of knowledge there was in reach.

And somehow, that tendency burned its way into her.

Hands always burning with the need to tangle in familiar clothing and strip them off to reveal even more familiar skin. It was that want and desire to fully explore the landscape of flesh and know what it was like to taste and touch; to burn into sensitive nerves and see what it was like to push the human mind and reaction to its brink; to see and feel what it was like to bore fingers into soft tissue; the grinding sensations of skin that came with enough force to leave bruises and marks.

It was a relief to the constant hunger for knowing and feeling.

To anyone else, it was a moment of sheer senselessness and a time of thoughtlessness.

But to them, it was all the more for study.

She knew all the places where his body was most sensitive; she knew the soft ticks and motions that would abruptly interrupt his thought process for a few seconds- just long enough for an opening. It was common knowledge to know where to touch and how much pressure to use in order to get him to give in. It had been a long study over an even longer duration of time but she considered the study to be a success; she assumed he agreed with her.

And just as much, he was fully aware of the same information of her. He was quicker than her at times and could easily trap her with those same nerves and burrowing fingers; allowing her to fall easily into his touch, which had been perfected over their numerous studies. He knew the right amount of pressure to stroke down her spine and the correct knowledge of anatomy to know where her body was more sensitive.

That hunger for knowledge seemed to deplete further and further into starvation as every study was more vigorous than the last.


	80. Words

**XXXXXXXX.**

**Words**

He always had a difficult time trying to… 'communicate' properly with others of such lower intelligence. Most of the time he did whatever tricks he could to get out of a conversation just to avoid the mess of one; not to say that he didn't enjoy ridiculing them or outsmarting them, but there were times when their sheer stupidity dug itself beneath his skin like the head of a nail. He would be the first to admit his 'social skills' were horribly underdeveloped but as far as he was concerned, there was no need for them. After all, in his practice and studies, he rarely even had someone at hand; it was a solitary career and he was happy with that.

She, on the other hand, had a tendency to speak only when spoken to and in his case, there was sometimes days that would carry on without so much as a word between them. It hadn't occurred to him that neither of them were really too keen on changing their habits up until that point; the fourth day in on an unknown, and unintentional silent treatment between them. Still, she remained at his side even in silence; offering her assistance without words but he still managed to understand her intentions in doing so.

It was efficient and flawless .

The working cycle between them continued to rotate easily and there was a jumpstart in overall production time. It was a fairly respectable treat but there were little others who could fully appreciate the work they were accomplishing.

"You're fairly skilled in these kind of experiments and operations; I'm impressed."

Those Emerald-like eyes looked up to him for a brief moment before she carried on with moving aside equipment that had been used a few hours before; their metallic shells finally safe and cleaned from the chemicals that had once threatened to burn into them.

"Yes well, I suppose I should thank you for the opportunity to participate in some."

"Those are the most words you've ever said to me."

"And the most you have said towards me as well."


	81. Pen and Paper

**XXXXXXXXI.**

**Pen and Paper**

It was a quick return to her own room, her own Division House, even back to her own Dimension before the sun rose. She had scaled her way easily into her window one too many times to ever be comfortable with but as of now, she had made herself a pro at it. She only had a few hours of rest before dawn arrived and when she was expected to get up but… the time spent had been worth it. It was life-risking and she couldn't believe she was stupid enough to continue this motive; the thought of stopping was nowhere in sight though.

In the midst of removing her uniform, she watched as a small folded piece of paper floated out of one sleeve and landed on the hardwood floor below. She continued to stare at it as if it was a threatening presence that dared to give her weakness away. Slowly… she reached for the paper and held it protectively in hand. As she started to unfold it, it felt as though the smallest crinkle of the paper was enough to awaken the entire Division as she tried to open it as quietly as possible.

She could tell easily by the bold and perfected lines of the words and the overall beautiful penmanship, that it was his handwriting. He had an unique design and style to every letter and every phrase that followed along through the long sentences. She was caught in whether she wanted to wait and savor the words or… if she wanted to hurry through them to finish his message instead. Somehow, she managed to pick a middle ground and followed every line as perfectly as she could.

It was almost like she could still hear his voice; the soft rush of his breath on her neck just before she left.

Every word was written for her and phrased to try and match that… empathy of lust that consumed the both of them completely; dragging them further and further into this mismatched and dangerous game they so wished to continue. They both willingly acknowledged the risk and both threw them all out the window at the first given chance.

It was rare for him to write to her like this and she wasn't entirely sure how he managed to pin it to her sleeve without her noticing but… there were no regrets in it; she favored his almost sly romanticism that caught her off-guard again and again.

She folded the note carefully and hid it safely beneath her bed; hoping that no one would find it and discover this… ill-fitted relationship they both shared with one another. Quietly fitting herself beneath the thin blanket, she figured there would be no harm in taking advantage of the few hours she had left till morning.


	82. Can You Hear Me?

**XXXXXXXXII.**

**Can You Hear Me?**

"Are you even listening to me?"

She glanced back at his question and paused lightly in her own movements; taking note of the look of irritation he sported. "What exactly were you saying besides every other word being 'don't come along' and 'don't follow me?'"

"Those were the phrases I was expecting you to be hearing." he roughly noted. "I would just prefer it if you didn't come along, alright? It would be an easier situation to handle without having to worry about you being there."

"I can handle myself just fine."

"Well I have no worries about that, it would just be an easier situation to deal with if… look, I just think it would be better without you having to be there."

She studied his features for a few moments and watched as they seemed to be motionless and stoic in his approach of the situation. "And I think it would make for a better conversation and/or argument if we were both there to speak it. After all, it's difficult to make a debate when you're outnumbered and out-voiced. You can deny words from ever happening but when there's an action in front of a group of witnesses, it's harder to reject. So, we both show up, we both make a co-argument, in which case no one gets the ill-idea of this being one-sided; believe it or not, I can make an argument when I choose to."

"Oh don't worry, I know well as this present argument drives it home." he started. "But you don't understand those people like I do; even with physical evidence, they'll still be difficult to convince. And, if you're present… who knows, it just might make things worse."

She watched him as he moved to step around her before she reached to take his arm; pulling him back around to face her this time. "If we want to make this work, then we have to show it. I don't care who the audience is, whether it's your kind or mine, it's the same opposition; it's the same conflict and denial. In which case, we'll have to do the same with our own argument. Let's face it, would we really have been drawn to this if it was easy?"


	83. Heal

**XXXXXXXXIII.  
>Heal<strong>

Perhaps she was indestructible; the closest thing any sort of human had to being invincible, only due to her artificial beginnings that allowed for her to be revived again and again.

Perhaps she had rapid healing when her body did take massive amounts of damages at once; her body was able to take on more than enough damage that would've equaled to the deaths of over a hundred men and she would still be able to walk it off.

And yet… he still couldn't stand the sight of her blood or any inch of her skin ripped open.

"Stop looking so worried." she assured; bandages wrapped tightly around her arms and upper body; there was a faint hint of red on the white material already. "It doesn't fit you well."

A light frown found itself on his lips but he tried not to say anything right at that moment; releasing his response in a sharp exhale before he worked another one free. "It's difficult to explain myself right now, but you don't fit well with being wrapped in bandages either."

"It's common."

"To you, maybe… but I have yet to reach that kind of level of experience you seemingly boast about." he started; catching himself once more. "I just… just make sure you don't mess with the bandages too much, I don't want those injuries opening again and I'd prefer it if they didn't leave scars either."

She took note of his clear discomfort and disapproval of her injuries; not the least bit happy with the tightly wrapped bandages that covered her upper body. It was difficult to remind him that she was all the more familiar with this kind of thing; he seemed to try and blatantly ignore anything she said about it, seemingly disturbed by it all. "They'll heal in time. There's no need to worry for it."

"Your cue words were 'in time.'" he started.

"Honestly… I would've preferred to take this much damage than risk you taking any at all."

He seemed to be grasping at empty words and answers before he merely shook his head in response. "We never get anywhere in these kind of conversations, do we?"

"Not really, no but… I like to think that they trick us into thinking it helps with the healing instead."


	84. Out Cold

**XXXXXXXXIV.**

**Out Cold**

There was that split-second of panic as her eyes rested on his collapsed form; the spill of crimson liquid around him didn't help her in the least bit as she worked herself towards him. She tried to carefully step her way over the litter of dead bodies that surrounded the former battlefield; trying not to panic the more and more she approached him, part of her wishing that he would wake up or at least move at the sound of her approaching footsteps. But he never did.

His body softly radiated with his depleting energy.

His back was still split open from before… she never should've left this field; she never should've let him stay behind to defend her. The numerous bodies around showed only blood and yet no outside physical trauma which… gave her enough evidence to assume he had wiped out all of them in his release form… just as she told him to. Perhaps that had been a bad decision to do. In this dimension, the release of that kind of energy would've gathered far too much attention; it was what probably brought on the amount of soldiers around him, the numbers had almost tripled from when she left him here.

She gently set herself next to him and watched the slow rise and fall of his body; he was still breathing, that was a good sign. If anything, he was merely unconscious, maybe from blood loss, physical trauma, or anything else that was possibly strong enough to knock him out. But… he was still alive. She still had him.

Hands lightly pulled him against her and cradled him into her chest; it was almost impossible to try and find a place to lay her hands to rest against his body without touching a raw strip of tissue. The battle seemed to have pushed his abilities to their brink before he gave the attackers their unfortunate graves; the unfortunate death of having all their organs, critical or not, crushed and then drown on their own blood.

There were always better ways to die.


	85. Spiral

**XXXXXXXXV.**

**Spiral**

It was a whirlwind.

A tornado-like effect.

A hurricane-worth of damages.

A cyclone worthy of battle and worthy enough to win.

It felt flawless.

She watched as he carefully pulled on his shirt and smoothed out the fitting material to fix it around his slender form. There was always some kind of appeal in just simply observing and watching every little twitch and every little flex of his muscles as he carried on the movement; taking note of how his shoulders were well rounded while his back was visibly coursed with enough muscle to sculpt out a form. She was normally the first one out of bed but… this time, she decided to wait for him first. Just to see what it was like to have those roles switched out.

"You should put on a show like that every morning."

A light chuckle escaped him at her remark before he glanced back to see where she was still tangled in those sheets; one arm lightly propped up beneath her as those green eyes looked back at him. "Is this how it normally feels with you then?"

"Something like that." she shrugged lightly. "I mean, I'm sure you like to think you find more enjoyment in it though."

"Well it's hard to argue with the truth."

"Truth is merely a word of opinion."


	86. Seeing Red

**XXXXXXXXVI.**

**Seeing Red**

Heavy pants left his lips as he looked down at the gory mess of bodies that littered themselves across the floor around him. Broken limbs and spilled organs affected each victim as convulsions twitched throughout their bodies before they fell still against the stained tiles. Fingers flexed lightly at his sides as the adrenaline in his system began to wear itself down. There were no survivors, he ensured of that; there were no screams that could've been heard, he made sure; in a few hours, there would be no evidence of this massacre at all.

"What did you do?"

The question was barely heard behind him but he could pick up on the different tones in her voice. "Easy enough. There were those who… objected to my methods, who objected to something that was of my own personal choosing… so I got rid of them. I know the importance of conflict now and again but I don't wish to argue over much at this current moment. When I couldn't simply push them from my attention, I got rid of them instead. It's a much easier aftermath to deal with, although I suppose there is more work to do instead."

"So you chose to kill them?"

"Yes well, I suppose you could say that I was jealous." he started; careful with his choice of words. "I mean, they all liked to compliment you and sometimes their words and descriptions went too far for my own liking; only I should be able to say those things of you. Yes, perhaps that added fuel to the fire but I have no regrets. After all, it was an amazing explosion in the end."


	87. Food

**XXXXXXXXVII.**

**Food**

"This human world smells terrible, why do you enjoy coming here so often?"

A light chuckle escaped her as she linked her arm with his own and pulled him lightly along side of her; navigating through the thin crowds of the sidewalk. "Don't speak so openly like that, when someone here can hear you." she started. "And that 'terrible smell' would be what these 'humans' use to sustain life."

"Well tell them they need to change their tastes or diets because it's absolutely nauseating."

"Must you complain?"

"How else am I supposed to get noticed?" he remarked back at her; listening to a second chuckle that managed to escape her. It was hard to not notice how the black mini-coat dressed her almost just the same as her kimono; leaving her long legs bare to the somewhat cooling winds of this 'human world' season. The weight of her arm in his own was fairly reassuring as they pushed their way off the sidewalk and into a more open, walking area that seemed to resemble something of a park- he supposed anyways. "This world is ultimately boring, I hope you know that."

"I think there are some interesting points in it." she answered. "I mean, our Society is somewhat modeled like this and we share some resemblance. However, your world is completely different, I'm honestly surprised you aren't more interested in this world; there is a lot here that your world doesn't have."

"Yes well, water is only interesting for so long." he commented sarcastically in response. "Other than that… these people are boring, the food smells terrible and the designs of this world are ultimately unoriginal and textbook photos."

"You are horribly critical."

"It's one of my many traits that I embrace."


	88. Pain

**XXXXXXXXVIII.**

**Pain**

It always came with two different definitions to them.

She defined pain as a sense of failure. She had failed to avoid the attack or wasn't fast enough dodge the oncoming swing. Her body had failed to protect itself or the needed experimentation itself was a failure. It was always a different case but overall in the end, it was just a malfunction.

He defined it as an overall and endless reaction. He always said that everyone was in a constant state of pain, they only realized it every now and again at certain times. People used it as an excuse to realize their own mortality, to realize they were still alive but… it's always constant; the person themselves chooses to ignore their fragile state of living.

Her definition didn't run with his own but his made it sound as though they were also in a state of failure at all times. She didn't want to risk or even believe that but in a way… it almost seemed to make sense. Mistakes were constantly made, it was only inevitable.

And it seemed reasonable to believe that everyone was in a constant state of pain, it was only their own realization at that fact that brought certain events to light; that brought certain events to that realization of pain. But then again… perhaps that was only his species way of thinking.

They were born into pain; their sole existence seemed to radiate with living in pain.

It wasn't surprising that that seemed like the only thing they could think of.

Regardless if he thought so, she wanted to stop him from coming to that realization again. Even if it was impossible… she wanted to be a painkiller for him; she would've gladly taken any of that realization from him and deal with the blows herself.


	89. Through the Fire

**XXXXXXXXIX.**

**Through the Fire**

The sheer heat from the blast felt as though it burned clean through his flesh as the power of it alone was enough to throw the both of them back across the courtyard. The harsh collision against the concrete wall was enough to slightly jolt his consciousness back into work.

Okay… so he was knocked out of Resurrection state… which had to have been a first; and he was in a lot of pain, that one was kind of common though. He couldn't really process anything after that. The only thing he knew was that he had to stay conscious for now. There was a lot of damages, which meant if he lost consciousness now… there was really no telling if he would even wake up again.

Pushing himself up at least to remove most of his body from the concrete debris, he looked over at a groan and watched as she slowly began to stir next to him. At least he managed to shield her from the initial blast, maybe not the actual collision but that was easily manageable for her.

"Why did you do that?" she questioned softly; fingertips softly touching at the blood streaming down her forehead.

"Because I had to." he answered; feeling the streaks of pain race through his body as he attempted to do a self-evaluation on all his injuries. There were… quite a few spinal injuries and a lot of internal damages now- it felt like his liver had been grated against his spine- and a few broken bones here or there. "But don't count on me to be able to do much after this point."

She sighed lightly at his physical condition- or rather lack of one, as he slowly placed his hands against the cratered wall behind them; pushing himself back to his feet. Blood coated down his slightly torn uniform and marked every area where an injury had occurred. His left hand was partly managed as a compound fracture crippled it by sight; the white of a jagged bone pushed itself free from his skin and through the material of his glove. She followed his motions and got to her feet as she watched him lean back against the same wall to gain a better holding on his balance. "You're going to kill yourself by doing that one day."

"By doing what? Protecting you?… That just might be a death I would be willing to die for."


	90. Triangle

**A/N: Is this beyond shameless? Yes. Did I possibly misuse the theme of Triangle for my own advantage? Yes. Would I completely support this no matter how wrong it may seem? By far, yes. **

**XXXXXXXXX**

**Triangle**

A soft groan pierced his lips as the suspension of sensors and non-motor activities came to a grinding halt; the reduced sense of consciousness was given new life as the blanket of sleep was ripped away from his sub-consciousness. His facial features tensed for a moment as he thought about denying the slipping grasp on sleep before he eventually let it slide away. Although after such a rough night, the thought of being aware of consciousness once more was not quite appealing anymore. The soft friction between his flesh and the tangled sheets around him was almost enough to convince a few more hours in bed but he had things planned for the day and wasting more time wasn't really one of them. Slowly cracking open his eyes, he groaned slightly as the faint light off in the distance was enough to blur his vision a bit more than usual. It took a few more tries before he could piece a solid image together.

And of course the first image in sight was of the sleeping figure next to him. Her midnight bangs fell easily into her face but couldn't conceal the genuine look of relaxation and peace that dressed her expression. One hand was tangled in the dark comforter and kept it slightly in place over her robust chest; still managing to expose quite a bit cleavage though. Her body was slightly twisted underneath the covers, with her hips turned enough to slightly prop up on leg; forcing the thick blanket to slightly contour around the different shapes. For the life of him, he couldn't remember every detail from the night before but judging from the dark bruises on her neck and shoulders… it must've been a good time.

He watched as her facial muscles twitched slightly before she turned her head to more face him; deep green eyes slowly opened to greet him with the morning. Those light, slightly bruised lips parted for a moment to release a deep exhale.

"Morning."

A light chuckle left him as he reached forward just enough to cup her jawline and pull her forward; his lips brushing against her own in greeting. "Morning to you too." As much as it was a temptation to take the greeting further, the slightly blurred line of his consciousness would be far too easy to encourage him to go past the simple motive.

Her fingers released the cover and moved to trace through his hair before lightly curling into the back of his head; pulling him forward enough to cement the space between them. The tip of her tongue made easy work of his willing lips as he openly welcomed the motion. It was a short-lived embrace but it was enough to fuel that temptation again- the same one that felt as though it would bring him to the point of exhaustion. Her fingers tangled themselves in his hair as he moved his hand back to do the same; ultimately deepening their embrace rather than ending it.

He could feel her free hand move to drape against his waist as fingertips traced small circles into his flesh. It only added to the tension… at least till he figured out that according to how the hand was positioned and angled… that couldn't have been her. There was a rush of heated air against the back of his neck as a third member softly exhaled against the cool flesh; momentarily distracting him.

"Well now… this certainly seems to be summing up to be a _very_ good morning." a husky voice whispered behind him as warm lips moved to touch the curve of his slightly painful neck.

Releasing the woman in front of him, he reached back and traced his fingers along the underside of her chin; turning his head just enough to almost catch her lips. "Well, well, just what the hell happened last night."

The cinnamon-toned woman gave a tired smirk as she made the arrangement to brush her lips against his own; letting the tip of her tongue entice his own to emerge. It was a work of open kisses and brushes of the lips that seemed to spark the nerves in every part of their bodies. "I don't know but at this point… I couldn't really care less."

He could feel her lips drop back to the curve of his neck, which was painful just to turn a few degrees in any direction. The woman was persistent, he had to admit that and she certainly wanted to have things go her way. Her hand moved to touch at his hip more forcefully, as though to remind him that she was still there. "Harribel… you are a woman who can't be pleased." he chuckled lightly.

"Hmmm… I get the feeling that I'm not the only one." she replied; using the tip of her tongue to stroke the bruised and swollen flesh that ran a path up along his neck.

He moved to question her before feeling a second hand join on his waist; a second set of lips touched at the raw flesh of his throat and seemed to work for the slightest tremor. As much as the situation was desirable, no joke to most men in any dimension, he could already feel the activities of the night before making its way through his sore muscles and broken flesh. "I really hate to interrupt this-"

"Then don't." Harribel cut off as she slid her hand to press tightly against his abdomen. "No one says you have to."

"Well apparently last night is." he reminded with a light chuckle. "You girls play rough."

"It's the only way to get results."

"And bruises and some minor blood lost."

Pushing herself up slightly onto her arms, the cinnamon-skinned woman looked down at their slightly tangled mass of sheets and legs. "How about we take a vote? The choices are either sleep all morning or repeat last night… only with a bit more."

"That question is biased-" he started.

"Well, let's just say that if I'm looking to stay in bed for the next few hours, I want it to be like those last few hours last night."

"That's not funny Nemu-"

"Two to one; majority rules."


	91. Drowning

**XXXXXXXXXI.**

**Drowning**

Every small kiss, every soft embrace seemed to simulate that of suffocation. Every draw of air was heavy as though the atmosphere around them had transformed itself into a component of lead. Hands and fingers pulled them further and further downward till they were lost in the pool of tangled sheets and discarded covers.

It was like drowning.

A sense of heat and pain tangled all in one as desires drove the air from their lungs and yet kept them from refilling on the precious oxygen that helped to sustain life. Anything to keep the embraces going; anything to feel those lips and taste everything there was to offer. Even when lips dissolved from one another, they found themselves against skin, the curve of necks and shoulders; lost somewhere in translation as the acts almost seemed intentional.

It was like being willingly pulled down into those sheets that simulated the rush of water around them.

Their lips giving way to the suffocation of every embrace that touched and scoped bodies for new contours and curves.

The surface was well within reach and yet they wanted to go deeper into this pool; they wanted to drown here and see what it was like to give in everything.

The first splash, the first pull of water as it drags you under, the feeling of pain, the loss of consciousness, everything.

Being pulled into the water by desirous fingers and hands that are last in their own need for that splash; to feel that sharp pain as the simulation was pressed harder and harder to ignite that fire that would burn through the lungs; the loss of consciousness when the simulation ended and they were back on dry land once more.


	92. All That I Have

**XXXXXXXXXII.**

**All That I Have**

"You don't have to apologize…"

"Stop saying that!"

She looked up at the sharp words coming from the woman; hands subconsciously pulling her child closer to her at the sudden outburst. "Why?"

"You just… you're forgiving us too easily." Isane started; trying hard to keep her voice from trembling or even breaking. "You're telling us not to apologize when we haven't even started too."

"… You didn't know." she replied as she gently ran her fingers through her daughter's bangs. The small child was sleeping fitfully against her chest as she cradled her with one arm. "There was no way you could've known."

She turned away for a moment to get a better grasp on her emotional state; glancing back to see the dark-haired woman tending to her sleeping daughter, who slept away the last few hours from her mind. They didn't know; they didn't even expect it but… regardless that didn't make it right. "I just… did… did you love him?"

She paused once again at the question before she slowly returned to the soft gesture of cradling the child. "Yes. I did." she glanced up to see the woman struggle to keep a better hold on her emotions at the answer. "The others, including yourself, most likely think I bore this child out of force and fear. Maybe he held it against me or maybe he used it as a deal. That if I could bore a child for him and care for it, then maybe I could get a chance to go back." she watched carefully as the woman slowly, regretfully nodded. "That wasn't it. Believe it or not, that wasn't even a thought. The first time was just a physical lust and the times after that were a running cause because of it but… that one night was different for the both of us. For once, it felt like I actually belonged somewhere and did… maybe I still do."

She watched as it didn't take long for the silver-haired woman to quickly excuse herself from the room; allowing for the door to close fitfully behind her. It was easy to tell from her crumbling energy that she had let the moment get to her and had to leave to recollect herself. She didn't blame her; after all, it seemed like they were all taking more and more blame for the situation.

Green eyes dropped back to the pink-haired child against her; fingers pausing lightly to feel the soft texture of her hair. She looked just like him… in her growing years, she was only going to resemble him more and more. Part of her was thankful for that; at least that way, neither of them would forget what he looked like.

"It looks like it's just the two of us now." she whispered; feeling the way the girl only seemed to shift once more in her tired fit of sleep.

For now, she was all the girl had.

"I'm so sorry, Akira…"


	93. Give Up

**XXXXXXXXXIII.**

**Give Up**

"I'm so sorry..." she whispered; her fingers desperate to catch onto some part of him. "I never... I never meant for you to get caught in this..."

Her touch was empty as it clung with a high degree of empathy to his body; fingertips pressing tightly against his cold flesh. Those eyes, usually stoic and empty, were composed of glass and reflected the smallest hint of light off the welling tears. And yet... he didn't want any part of her; he wanted to rip her hands from his body and burn what pieces she touched. "No... I can't."

His eyes, which were once so enticed by her own, refused to even give her the slightest glance. Her hands moved to cup his face as she turned him to look at her; borderline forcing him to look at her. Those amber orbs looked straight into her eyes and yet... looked clean through her; physically, he looked focused on just her but mentally, he was erasing her. "What is it? What do I have to do? How do I get you to even acknowledge me again?"

For a moment, his eyes hardened but it quickly disappeared. "Do you really want my answer? Do you want to know _that_ bad?"

"Just tell me something, _anything_." she replied.

"Okay... I want you to take your hands off of me and I want you to walk out of my sight." he spoke; feeling her hands carefully drop away from him. "It's taking everything I have to _not_ do something stupid, so please if you will... just go."

She wasn't going to lie and say that it didn't hurt her, but she cut off all emotions for the moment and stepped away. If that's what he wanted, then there was no reason to argue with him. "If that's what you want, then I have no place to disagree with you."

It felt like a metal pike was stabbed into his chest as he watched her turn silently and walk away from him; each step caused the pain to twist itself deeper till the strain on his chest started to suffocate him. Sometimes he was glad he didn't have a heart... it made it that much easier to deal with the strain; it made it far less painful to see her completely disappear from sight.


	94. Last Hope

**XXXXXXXXXIV.**

**Last Hope**

"Stop saying that, you know well it's completely out of the question!"

She silenced for a moment at the sense of his greater agitation but decided against the quiet oath as she watched him momentarily ease back a spill of blood. "You've been poisoned with an element I have no clue how to cure; it's decaying you from the inside out. At most, you might have a few hours- and that's just being generous… There's only one way to fix it."

He tried to push her words from his thoughts as he moved in to the next room to further avoid her. For the most part, what she said was true. The last battle left him with a gaping wound along his left side that only seemed to worsen with every passing hour; everything around the injury had been darkened by whatever energy had been possessed in the sword. It was like a poison and it was essentially decaying every strip of tissue within reach. Perhaps so it seemed like it would have no cure but… he wasn't ready to accept that.

He wasn't going to accept her answer either.

She hesitated before she slowly followed after him; eyes unable to pull away from the wound that had been left open against his bare flesh. "You know it's true."

"Only when it's the only option available." he replied back to her. "And that's only if I accept it, which I won't. You know that."

He was absolutely stubborn with her. There was only one way of forcing the answer out of him. She hurried after him and lightly grabbed at his arm, pulling him back around to face her. "We can't both keep moving around this situation like it can be avoided. You know very well you'll be out of options in a few hours and when that time comes-"

He was quick to pull his arm free from her. "I'm not doing it. It's completely out of the question, like I said before."

"Then you would rather die than choose the only way out."

"If you rephrase it and say that I'd much rather die than let you became a victim of my Gabriel Effect once more, then yes; I would rather die than do that again." he snapped lightly. "I'm not making you my last chance, my… last ditch effort."


	95. Advertisement

**XXXXXXXXXV.**

**Advertisement**

She knew he wanted to say something sarcastic but was doing his best to avoid it; trying to busy himself with whatever was around to try and distract his attention from her. But she wasn't going to let him off that easily. She waited till he seemed to absent-mindedly leave his guard down and went in for the strike.

"Just what's so funny?" she questioned; cornering him slightly between two of the lab counters.

"Nothing." he started.

"You're a horrible liar."

It seemed to take a few moments before he broke down into a soft chuckle. "It's just… you're like a walking billboard sign. There, I said it."

A soft downward curve struck the corner of her lips as she watched him try to contain himself once more; there was something about the situation that he seemed to find oddly humorous. Hands lightly came to rest on her hips as she only shook her head at his response. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's… nothing really, just… how do I want to word this?"

"Carefully, I would hope for your own safety." she added.

"It's just that we came back to your dimension to try and… prove to these 'people' that this thing between us can exist and work out fairly well- as noted. It's just that… recent events seemed to have pushed that effect into a level I wasn't entirely ready to check yet. That's not meant to say that I'm not ready on a personal type level but more for being prepared for outside opinion."

Her arms moved to cross over her chest now. Yes, they had answered the request to return back to Soul Society to try and push this 'peace treaty' that was going on between the two dimensions; yes, they hadn't entirely been welcomed warmly but it was doable and they had settled in well a few months ago. Of course, like he said… there were certain events that only seemed to push their co-existence even further. But it wasn't like she could completely control the second body that was growing inside of her; the bump of her stomach had been easy to hide at first but now as the months lingered on, there was no sense in trying to conceal it anymore. So… she supposed she could get his 'billboard' joke before. It was like she was now a walking proof for everyone else to see that this was possible; anyone could easily tell at this point.

"Well it's a little late to be thinking on that now, isn't it?"

"Perhaps but… maybe it would be more suitable if he were born here instead; that way he can relate more to this world and create that connection."

"We'll just have to wait and see now, wouldn't we?"


	96. In The Storm

**XXXXXXXXXVI.**

**In the Storm**

The soft, just barely audible cries drew her quickly out of her rather fitful sleeping spell as her body seemed to move faster than what her mind could comprehend. She moved quietly across the floorboards to avoid any echoes of squeaking from the polished wood; carrying herself easily to the small crib just a few feet from her bedside.

"Come here." she softly whispered as she pulled the calmly distressed baby against her; arms gently cradling him against her chest to ease his worries. It worked almost perfectly as he instantly fell silent and clung to the oversized shirt she slept in. A smile found its way to the corner of her lips as she watched him seemingly fall back to sleep against her.

The sudden crack of thunder outside seemed to reverse that effect though and she found herself gently reassuring him once more. It had been a quiet storm for a good majority of the night but… it appeared as soon as it passed the midnight hour, it decided to act up once more. She continued to cradle him lightly as she slowly made her way over to the only window of the room; the glass lighting up brilliantly with every flash of lightning that passed across the dark clouds above. Moving carefully, she seated herself on the wide window sill that seemed as though it was meant to be a sitting area. Pulling her legs up slightly to fit better on the sill, she looked out of the slightly blurred window and into the darkened world outside; eyes catching every wave and bend of the trees as the wind seemed determined to snap every single one of them.

Another snap of thunder echoed enough to seemingly shake the building.

"Shh, it's okay, sweetheart." she started; looking down into the worried pair of amber eyes that stared back at her. Her blonde-haired son seemed to be intently watching her as if for some form of explanation for the noises that frightened him. "It's just a sonic shock wave created from the sudden increase in pressure and temperature from lightning that produces rapid expansion of air surrounding and within a bolt of lightning. It's completely harmless."

That didn't seem to help him in the least bit.

"Your father told me that same thing during a storm, I figured I would pass it on to you." she chuckled lightly as fingertips lightly brushed aside his thin bangs; she let him lean back in her arms for a moment as he himself seemed curious about the outside world now. Slowly, one tiny hand seemed to reach forward and touch the chilling glass, which caused for him to quickly pull away before he attempted it once more. "One day, you're going to have to choose which world you want to live in… maybe it's our fault for giving you those choices but… in the end, it'll be up to you. You'll choose which way you want to fly, Phoenix; I know you'll make the right decision in that…." her voice drifted off for a moment before another clash of thunder brought him clinging to her once more. "Until then, you're my blonde-haired baby who's afraid of storms."

**A/N: I figured I could do a little counterpart to Playing the Melody.**


	97. Safety First

**XXXXXXXXXVII.**

**Safety First**

"Would you sit down?"

"This is the first time I've been able to walk across the room without getting exhausted halfway there." she replied back to him easily; watching as he only shook his head before going back to looking over his notes. She knew he just didn't want her leaving his sight; over the past few weeks he had grown rather protective of her. For the most part it was sweet and she loved the attention he gave her, but sometimes... she just enjoyed teasing him over it.

Watching as he once again became consumed in his work and oblivious to everything around him, she started to walk over to him; stopping only when she became distracted at the light movement that could be felt within her stomach. Carefully laying her hand over the bump, she felt the small fingers drag themselves underneath her flesh; revealing smaller bulges underneath her kimono as fingers seemed to attempt an escape. "The baby's moving again."

"Probably reflecting your restlessness." he remarked; crossing out several lines in his notes.

Walking across the room, she stepped in at his side and pushed his notebook closed; fingers moved to nudge it off his desk and listened as it clattered to the floor below. "You know, at twenty-one weeks, she can already hear you talking."

He readjusted his glasses momentarily before he shifted his attention her now; hands carefully placed themselves on her round stomach to feel the soft movement underneath his touch. He followed the tiny hand as it curved across her abdomen before it disappeared into her stomach. "I guess we'll have to be careful with what we say now."

"It just depends on what you want to say." she mused as she ran her fingers through his hair at the given opportunity. "Although I'd prefer if her first words weren't in relations to a curse."

"Just making sure."


	98. Puzzle

**XXXXXXXXXVIII.**

**Puzzle**

"You're like a horrible puzzle, you know that."

Fingers rubbed at the sore space between his eyes as he re-emerged from what felt like death; he had only excused himself to try and remedy his oncoming migraine, but almost three hours later he wasn't entirely sure what happened. "That's exactly what I needed to hear, thank you."

She glanced up at the sarcastic tone and watched as he seemed far worse looking than when he first left to go lie down; still, she couldn't help but to just barely smile in the softest sense at the complete look of hell he seemed to carry. "If you can find me, you can sit with me. I might be able to remedy that migraine."

"I highly doubt you can with anything short of witchcraft." he replied, with an even greater sense of sarcasm; regardless though, he worked his way over to where some part of her blurred figure was sitting and took up the rest of the available space.

She watched as he seemed to practically collapse into the space next to her; fingertips wasting no time in brushing aside his slightly disheveled bangs from his face. "Well, I can't say that I necessarily know witchcraft… that was forbidden in my dimension."

"We're both just having a ball with this, aren't we?" he muttered as his hands came up to cover his face momentarily; fingers slipping beneath his glasses as the faintest light in the room still felt as though it burned through his eyelids. "Now what did you mean before? Something about a puzzle of the sort."

"You have a lot of missing pieces, it would be impossible to put you together if you fell apart."


	99. Solitude

**XXXXXXXXXIX.**

**Solitude **

He had always been a 'creature' of habit; a solitary type figure. He had learned from his mistakes of allowing someone else inside of his labs, allowing someone else inside of really any part of his wing. Things always got messed up, nerves were pushed and tempers were left raging afterwards; sometimes there was the occasional passing of blood between two figures but that often times didn't last long. It was just easier if it was him and him alone. No one else was to be involved.

And yet, she made it known almost immediately that it was going to change.

There was going to be a lot more to change than originally anticipated.

That stark sense of loneliness and isolation he had come to be familiar with; that he had formed around himself was gone. That seclusion that had done so well for him was over. Well not completely… She seemed to share that sense of isolation he had come to favor for so long.

Solitude had the reputation of pertaining to one person, one area, one event, but he wanted to make an exception to that; it could remain as one area but… make it two people instead. She directed his need for complete separation into another direction, into another definition. It was still solitude from the others of the world, the ones who had pushed the nerves and the tempers but it still left a space open for her.

A space he was glad for her to fill.


	100. Relaxation

**XXXXXXXXXX.**

**Relaxation **

"We should really go and check on her." She whispered between different embraces as her hands twisted in the material of his shirt and pulled him closer to her. Despite her words, she made no move to even follow herself and refused to separate them; instead, she drew him in for a deeper embrace that seemed to leave half of her body almost numb from the reaction. A low moan escaped her as his tongue stroked a sensitive area in her mouth and slipped beneath her tongue to enthrall her.

"You're right…" he started to reply against her lips; pushing himself away from the wall she was pinned against. He lingered on her lips for a moment longer before he had to force himself to separate from her. It was for the better choice to cut this… 'event' short. "Where did she run off to anyways?"

There wasn't a verbal response to answer him but he was almost more satisfied with that instead.

One hand moved behind her to push her body off the wall and to press herself more openly against his chest; her other grabbed a hold of his temporary uniform once more. An irresistible want drove her to join at his lips again and to use her body to push him back until she forced him to sit down on the edge of the closest bed. A second of hesitation was blurred between hands as he pulled her forward to seal them into another mind-numbing embrace. His hands reached forward and grabbed a hold of her legs to cradle them against his fingers; pulling them up onto the bed space next to him so that she could now straddle his waist.

There was little to no resistance or objection as she brought her hands to cup the curves of his shoulders as she used the new angle to gain an upper hand on him; her tongue easily conquering his own in the new embrace. His hands kept at her waist before they dropped just a few short inches to her hips; squeezing lightly into the fleshy pair as he pulled them down to rest fully against him. A soft, barely audible moan escaped her at the forceful motion as she tangled her fingers even further into the thin material of the black uniform that dressed him only momentarily; twisting the fabric loose until she could peel it away from his pale flesh and leave it vulnerable to open touch.

There were light bruises that almost beckoned to be touched and examined by a rough hand; evidence of the latest battle that continued to try and tear itself further between them; to try and tear them apart. Fortunately, those battles were losing and becoming weaker with every encounter; and they… well, they enjoyed strengthening their bond with physical therapy.

"Okay, seriously though…" he started just barely able to draw himself away from her lips; light pants escaped the both of them as every embrace drained every molecule of oxygen from their lungs. "She's probably doing something dangerous now."

"True…" She agreed; slowly pulling herself from him- not easily though. She carefully moved her feet back to touch at the cold floor beneath; readjusting her uniform first before going anywhere. An offered hand seemed innocent enough as she started to pull him back as well- before his own hand came against her side and pulled her back down.

This time to the floor.

**A/N: Well, it's finally finished! Kind of disappointed that it is because I had almost too much fun with this; but I'm also kind of surprised because I really honestly expected to make it maybe halfway through before giving up. But after maybe a little over three months of uploading, it is finally complete. I'd honestly ask what a few of the more favorite themes were but there's a hundred of them and it's a lot to pick from. If I had to pick a few, it'd probably be Dark, Flowers, Keeping A Secret, Playing the Melody, Pen and Paper, Triangle, and In the Storm; but really, all of them were fun to do (well maybe not ALL of them). Anyways, I'll admit and say I'm also surprised with how many people stuck with it even with all the chapters- I'm sure I was blowing up a lot of people's inboxes with every update though. But it's always nice to see people appreciate a couple like this. Thanks for the reviews and all the feedback, it's always appreciated and it really helps. Is there another theme challenge somewhere in the future? Maybe. Just maybe. **


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